Fischer Financial Services Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Fischer Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 4.2% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 4,122 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 167 shares during the quarter. Fischer Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $644,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 39.3% in the fourth quarter. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,964 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $945,000 after purchasing an additional 1,400 shares in the last quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 10.2% in the first quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 14,907 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,329,000 after acquiring an additional 1,376 shares during the last quarter. Harvest Investment Services LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Harvest Investment Services LLC now owns 4,329 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $824,000 after acquiring an additional 138 shares during the last quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 2.7% in the first quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC now owns 9,771 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,527,000 after acquiring an additional 259 shares during the last quarter. Finally, jvl associates llc lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 3.5% in the first quarter. jvl associates llc now owns 10,055 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,571,000 after acquiring an additional 343 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOG stock opened at $193.20 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.77, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $176.33 and a 200-day moving average of $174.69. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $142.66 and a 12-month high of $208.70. The company has a market cap of $2.34 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.58, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.19. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 35.22%. The business had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $93.67 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.89 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on GOOG shares. Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a “neutral” rating and set a $171.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Tigress Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, BNP Paribas lowered Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $215.19.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.52, for a total transaction of $5,801,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,559,892 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $456,991,919.84. The trade was a 1.25% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total transaction of $3,448,820.16. Following the sale, the director directly owned 243,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $45,213,984. This represents a 7.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 249,409 shares of company stock valued at $43,523,710. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

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.