James J. Burns & Company LLC Buys 16,519 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

James J. Burns & Company LLC grew its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 384.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 20,819 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 16,519 shares during the quarter. James J. Burns & Company LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $3,792,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Picton Mahoney Asset Management grew its stake in Alphabet by 55.4% in the fourth quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 214,443 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $29,956,000 after acquiring an additional 76,410 shares during the period. Robbins Farley increased its stake in Alphabet by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Robbins Farley now owns 15,006 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,096,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Nebula Research & Development LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $787,000. CKW Financial Group lifted its stake in Alphabet by 5.8% in the first quarter. CKW Financial Group now owns 13,830 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,150,000 after buying an additional 760 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Colton Groome Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Colton Groome Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,700 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $377,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $181.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Alphabet from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Susquehanna upped their price target on Alphabet from $170.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $203.74.

Alphabet Stock Performance

GOOGL opened at $166.67 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 2.08 and a quick ratio of 2.08. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $175.61 and a 200 day simple moving average of $162.69. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $120.21 and a 1 year high of $191.75. The company has a market capitalization of $2.06 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.04. Alphabet had a net margin of 26.70% and a return on equity of 30.49%. The company had revenue of $84.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $70.60 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.44 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.62 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 9th will be given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 9th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.48%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 12.27%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.86, for a total transaction of $118,572.52. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 29,966 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,209,888.76. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.92, for a total transaction of $266,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,727 shares in the company, valued at $663,107.84. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.86, for a total value of $118,572.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 29,966 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,209,888.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 134,065 shares of company stock worth $23,051,543. Company 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.