Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Stock Position Increased by Decatur Capital Management Inc.

Decatur Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 82,914 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,036 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises approximately 7.3% of Decatur Capital Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. Decatur Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $15,103,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 3.6% in the second quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,620 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $295,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Hengehold Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 0.8% in the second quarter. Hengehold Capital Management LLC now owns 7,224 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,316,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc boosted its stake in Alphabet by 75.0% in the second quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 140 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Joseph P. Lucia & Associates LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 1.0% in the first quarter. Joseph P. Lucia & Associates LLC now owns 6,624 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,000,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sunflower Bank N.A. boosted its stake in Alphabet by 1.0% in the second quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. now owns 6,309 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,149,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Alphabet stock opened at $162.98 on Tuesday. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $120.21 and a fifty-two week high of $191.75. The company has a market capitalization of $2.01 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.00, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.04. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $162.06 and a two-hundred day moving average of $167.41. 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 posted 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $70.60 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 30.49% and a net margin of 26.70%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.44 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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 dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 9th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 12.27%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, SVP Prabhakar Raghavan sold 34,257 shares of the 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. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.84, for a total value of $230,804.28. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 29,183 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,927,257.72. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Prabhakar Raghavan sold 34,257 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.60, for a total value of $5,570,188.20. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 312,210 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,765,346. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 217,592 shares of company stock valued at $35,922,911 over the last quarter. Insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on GOOGL. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $240.00 price objective for the company. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on shares of Alphabet from $225.00 to $200.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 16th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $222.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, September 30th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $201.14.

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.