Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Stock Position Raised by Kaizen Financial Strategies

Kaizen Financial Strategies increased its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 6.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,980 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 836 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up 1.2% of Kaizen Financial Strategies’ holdings, making the stock its 19th largest holding. Kaizen Financial Strategies’ holdings in Alphabet were worth $2,287,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of GOOGL. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in Alphabet by 242.9% during the first quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 168 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. IMA Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $28,000. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 85.7% in the 1st 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 during the period. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. boosted its stake in Alphabet by 36.4% in the 2nd quarter. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. now owns 251 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the period. Finally, MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet during the 1st quarter worth approximately $50,000. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Trading Up 6.3%

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $318.58 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $263.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $215.00. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $140.53 and a 52 week high of $319.48. The stock has a market cap of $3.84 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.42, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 1.90.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.29 by $0.58. The firm had revenue of $102.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $99.90 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 32.23% and a return on equity of 36.08%. On average, research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 8th will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 8th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.28%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,778 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.05, for a total transaction of $694,638.90. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 14,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,629,725.80. This represents a 16.06% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.15, for a total value of $8,129,875.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,369,619 shares in the company, valued at $592,760,192.85. The trade was a 1.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 225,174 shares of company stock worth $58,095,223 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 11.64% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GOOGL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Alphabet from $270.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. DZ Bank reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $320.00 target price (up previously from $245.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Rosenblatt Securities upped their target price on Alphabet from $224.00 to $279.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Loop Capital upgraded shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $260.00 to $320.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 18th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-one have given a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $307.65.

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.