Evanson Asset Management LLC Grows Stake in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Evanson Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 181,598 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,221 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises about 2.1% of Evanson Asset Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest position. Evanson Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $32,214,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Peddock Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.3% during the second quarter. Peddock Capital Advisors LLC now owns 6,273 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,113,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. Kentucky Trust Co grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.0% during the second quarter. Kentucky Trust Co now owns 15,809 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,804,000 after acquiring an additional 155 shares in the last quarter. Buttonwood Financial Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 5.9% during the second quarter. Buttonwood Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 3,661 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $649,000 after acquiring an additional 203 shares in the last quarter. Northside Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 118.6% during the second quarter. Northside Capital Management LLC now owns 33,697 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $5,978,000 after acquiring an additional 18,280 shares in the last quarter. Finally, IMS Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the second quarter valued at about $6,049,000. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOG stock opened at $246.57 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The business has a 50 day moving average of $215.38 and a two-hundred day moving average of $183.72. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $142.66 and a 52 week high of $256.70. The company has a market cap of $2.98 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.26, a PEG ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.19. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%.The company had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $93.67 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.89 earnings per share. Alphabet’s quarterly revenue was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 8th were paid a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 8th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is presently 8.95%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on GOOG. Roth Capital restated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Citizens Jmp upgraded Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. BNP Paribas downgraded Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on Alphabet from $186.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $230.35.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 4th. The stock was 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 directly owned 42,999 shares in the company, valued at $8,371,905.30. The trade was a 35.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total value of $3,448,820.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 243,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $45,213,984. The trade was a 7.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 258,088 shares of company stock valued at $52,405,304. 12.99% of the stock is currently 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.