Goelzer Investment Management Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Goelzer Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 0.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 95,853 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 639 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises about 0.9% of Goelzer Investment Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 14th largest position. Goelzer Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $16,026,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of GOOG. Twelve Points Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Twelve Points Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,985 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,465,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. PCG Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. PCG Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,880 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $345,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Investment Advisory Services Inc. TX ADV raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.6% in the second quarter. Investment Advisory Services Inc. TX ADV now owns 3,636 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $667,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Management Group Inc. ADV lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.0% during the second quarter. Advisors Management Group Inc. ADV now owns 2,944 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $540,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 11.1% during the first quarter. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC now owns 600 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $91,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.8 %

NASDAQ GOOG traded up $1.35 during trading on Friday, reaching $168.56. 11,435,318 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 19,948,043. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $163.53 and its 200 day moving average price is $168.63. 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 firm has a market cap of $2.08 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.04. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $121.46 and a fifty-two week high of $193.31.

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

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 9th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.27%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.00, for a total value of $114,576.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 31,334 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,264,112. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.00, for a total value of $114,576.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 31,334 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,264,112. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 21,467 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.35, for a total value of $3,442,233.45. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 39,334 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,307,206.90. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 217,592 shares of company stock worth $35,922,911. 12.99% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen boosted their price objective 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. Pivotal Research initiated coverage on Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday. They set a “buy” rating and a $215.00 target price for the company. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on Alphabet from $210.00 to $185.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Three research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $183.75.

About Alphabet

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.