Founders Financial Securities LLC Grows Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Founders Financial Securities LLC increased its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 66.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 10,910 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,372 shares during the period. Founders Financial Securities LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,987,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of GOOGL. Nebula Research & Development LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at $787,000. New Hampshire Trust raised its position in Alphabet by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. New Hampshire Trust now owns 43,714 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $7,963,000 after buying an additional 1,132 shares during the last quarter. Matisse Capital raised its position in Alphabet by 13.7% in the 4th quarter. Matisse Capital now owns 16,781 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,344,000 after buying an additional 2,026 shares during the last quarter. Berkshire Money Management Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet during the 1st quarter valued at about $359,000. Finally, Schneider Downs Wealth Management Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 58.4% during the 1st quarter. Schneider Downs Wealth Management Advisors LP now owns 6,374 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $962,000 after acquiring an additional 2,351 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on GOOGL shares. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $240.00 price objective on the stock. Guggenheim increased their price target on Alphabet from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Citigroup raised their price target on Alphabet from $190.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Alphabet from $205.00 to $190.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on Alphabet from $200.00 to $204.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $201.08.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $158.06 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $1.95 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.04. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $166.84 and a 200 day moving average price of $165.01. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $120.21 and a fifty-two week high of $191.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 2.08 and a current ratio of 2.08.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $84.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $70.60 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 26.70% and a return on equity of 30.49%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.44 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Investors of record on Monday, September 9th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 9th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is presently 12.27%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.75, for a total transaction of $123,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 28,524 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,385,565. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.75, for a total value of $123,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 28,524 shares in the company, valued at $4,385,565. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.47, for a total transaction of $125,126.54. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 30,650 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,623,355.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 180,167 shares of company stock worth $30,139,931 in the last quarter. 11.55% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.