Cannon Financial Strategists Inc. Makes New $268,000 Investment in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Cannon Financial Strategists Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 1,459 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $268,000.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of GOOG. Richardson Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 9,200.0% during the 2nd quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 186 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the second quarter valued at approximately $37,000. HWG Holdings LP purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the second quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Finally, Slocum Gordon & Co LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the second quarter valued at approximately $44,000. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on GOOG. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Wolfe Research upgraded Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Rosenblatt Securities lowered Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $181.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Friday, June 28th. DA Davidson upgraded Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Pivotal Research initiated coverage on Alphabet in a report on Tuesday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $215.00 price objective on the stock. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $183.75.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, SVP Prabhakar Raghavan sold 34,257 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.60, for a total transaction of $5,570,188.20. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 312,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $50,765,346. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.84, for a total value of $4,113,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,204,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $403,141,173.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Prabhakar Raghavan sold 34,257 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.60, for a total value of $5,570,188.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 312,210 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,765,346. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 193,725 shares of company stock valued at $31,933,031. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.7 %

NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $168.42 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.08, a current ratio of 2.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $163.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $168.51. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $121.46 and a 52 week high of $193.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.08 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.04.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.04. Alphabet had a return on equity of 30.49% and a net margin of 26.70%. The business had revenue of $84.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $84.22 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.44 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 13.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 9th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 12.27%.

Alphabet Company 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.