Freedom Investment Management Inc. Has $7.85 Million Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Freedom Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 0.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 50,778 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for 0.7% of Freedom Investment Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest position. Freedom Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $7,852,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in Alphabet by 242.9% during the 1st quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 168 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares during the period. IMA Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the 1st quarter worth $28,000. von Borstel & Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the first quarter worth $28,000. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 85.7% during the first quarter. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC now owns 195 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the first quarter worth $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on GOOGL. JMP Securities lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $208.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $203.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $192.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have issued a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $211.53.

Alphabet Trading Down 0.6%

GOOGL opened at $207.14 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.51 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.06, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $140.53 and a 12 month high of $210.52. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $188.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $173.51. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $96,428,000 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $93.60 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 8th will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 8.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.79, for a total value of $122,274.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 6,316 shares in the company, valued at $1,287,137.64. This trade represents a 8.68% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total value of $4,637,754.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 42,999 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,371,905.30. The trade was a 35.65% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 254,719 shares of company stock valued at $47,223,172. Corporate insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

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.