Second Half Financial Partners LLC Takes $681,000 Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Second Half Financial Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 4,109 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $681,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of GOOGL. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in Alphabet by 0.5% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 49,472,478 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $9,011,412,000 after buying an additional 238,403 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 23,465,190 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $4,274,184,000 after purchasing an additional 418,204 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 9.1% in the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 23,263,385 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $4,237,426,000 after purchasing an additional 1,949,476 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 43,005.6% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 18,743,594 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $31,086,250,000 after purchasing an additional 18,700,111 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Alphabet by 6.7% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 17,520,067 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,191,561,000 after purchasing an additional 1,102,269 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $171.34 on Wednesday. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $127.90 and a 12-month high of $191.75. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $168.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $170.26. The company has a quick ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The company has a market cap of $2.10 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $72.85 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.55 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.61%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,835 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.53, for a total transaction of $429,587.55. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 29,182 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,421,948.46. This trade represents a 8.85 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 441 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.06, for a total transaction of $75,437.46. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 16,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,820,779.40. The trade was a 2.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 163,624 shares of company stock valued at $27,803,730. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on GOOGL. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $205.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Alphabet from $182.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on Alphabet from $206.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have assigned a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $205.90.

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.