Gradient Capital Advisors LLC Grows Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Gradient Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 2.2% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,839 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the quarter. Gradient Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $504,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. ACT Advisors LLC. raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter. ACT Advisors LLC. now owns 1,625 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $288,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the period. LongView Wealth Management raised its position in Alphabet by 1.1% in the second quarter. LongView Wealth Management now owns 5,126 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $909,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the period. Kooman & Associates raised its position in Alphabet by 1.4% in the second quarter. Kooman & Associates now owns 4,127 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $732,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the period. Colton Groome Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 3.4% in the second quarter. Colton Groome Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,742 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $309,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the period. Finally, NCM Capital Management LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 2.2% in the first quarter. NCM Capital Management LLC now owns 2,802 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $438,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on GOOG. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $210.00 price objective (up previously from $185.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Pivotal Research upped their price objective on Alphabet from $245.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Alphabet from $232.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Finally, Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have issued a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $230.35.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $247.18 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.99 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.01. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $216.61 and its 200 day moving average price is $184.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.90. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $142.66 and a 12 month high of $256.70.

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

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 8th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.95%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,778 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $245.00, for a total value of $680,610.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 17,293 shares in the company, valued at $4,236,785. This represents a 13.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $229.73, for a total transaction of $7,466,225.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,429,892 shares in the company, valued at $558,219,089.16. This trade represents a 1.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 257,866 shares of company stock valued at $52,363,610. Company insiders own 12.99% 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.