Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Grows Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,680,897 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 27,144 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up about 0.8% of Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest position. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $488,325,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 75.0% in the 2nd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 140 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Tributary Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Kings Path Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 59.2% during the 1st quarter. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. now owns 293 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of GOOGL stock opened at $151.16 on Thursday. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $120.21 and a 1-year high of $191.75. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $168.75 and its 200 day moving average price is $164.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 2.08 and a quick ratio of 2.08. The company has a market cap of $1.86 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.04.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $84.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $70.60 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.44 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Investors of record on Monday, September 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 9th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 12.27%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $240.00 price target for the company. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $190.00 price target for the company. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $222.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, Loop Capital reissued a “hold” rating and set a $170.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $201.76.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,835 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.53, for a total transaction of $429,587.55. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 29,182 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,421,948.46. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,835 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.53, for a total transaction of $429,587.55. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 29,182 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,421,948.46. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,213,011 shares in the company, valued at approximately $392,588,151.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 179,367 shares of company stock worth $30,016,931 in the last ninety days. 11.55% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.