Elser Financial Planning Inc Makes New $859,000 Investment in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Elser Financial Planning Inc bought a new position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 4,693 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $859,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 111.8% during the first quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 161 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the first quarter worth $26,000. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the first quarter worth $32,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the first quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the first quarter worth $34,000. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,816 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.42, for a total transaction of $4,408,034.72. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 42,985 shares in the company, valued at $10,635,348.70. This represents a 29.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.50, for a total value of $8,108,750.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,397,392 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $598,149,304. This represents a 1.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 243,285 shares of company stock valued at $50,994,787 over the last three months. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $245.54 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.97 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.90. The business has a 50-day moving average of $219.78 and a two-hundred day moving average of $185.88. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $142.66 and a 12 month high of $256.70.

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

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on GOOG shares. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Alphabet from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “equal weight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $210.00 price target (up from $185.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, July 24th. KeyCorp set a $265.00 price target on Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Finally, Citizens Jmp upgraded Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $230.35.

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.