Prudential PLC Buys 71,452 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Prudential PLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 15.7% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 527,604 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 71,452 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up 0.7% of Prudential PLC’s holdings, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. Prudential PLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $96,773,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Richardson Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the second quarter valued at $37,000. Slocum Gordon & Co LLP acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the second quarter worth $44,000. Hoese & Co LLP grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 62.5% in the second quarter. Hoese & Co LLP now owns 260 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the second quarter valued at $48,000. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet Trading Up 1.4 %

NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $152.15 on Thursday. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $121.46 and a 12 month high of $193.31. The company has a current ratio of 2.08, a quick ratio of 2.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.87 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.34, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.04. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $170.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $165.90.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.04. Alphabet had a return on equity of 30.49% and a net margin of 26.70%. The company had revenue of $84.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $84.22 billion. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.44 EPS. Analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Investors of record on Monday, September 9th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 12.27%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.40, for a total value of $3,991,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,213,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $392,588,151.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, SVP Prabhakar Raghavan sold 3,262 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.99, for a total value of $600,175.38. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 9 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,655.91. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.40, for a total value of $3,991,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,213,011 shares in the company, valued at approximately $392,588,151.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 201,867 shares of company stock valued at $34,218,581. 12.99% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GOOG has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Alphabet from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Rosenblatt Securities cut shares of Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $181.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $182.86.

Alphabet Profile

Alphabet Inc offers various products and platforms in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia-Pacific, Canada, and Latin America. It operates through Google Services, Google Cloud, and Other Bets segments. The Google Services segment provides products and services, including ads, Android, Chrome, devices, Gmail, Google Drive, Google Maps, Google Photos, Google Play, Search, and YouTube.