Abacus Planning Group Inc. Has $5 Million Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Abacus Planning Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 27,269 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 399 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up about 1.0% of Abacus Planning Group Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. Abacus Planning Group Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $5,002,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Partnership Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Pacific Capital Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the second quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, Hoese & Co LLP lifted its stake in Alphabet by 62.5% in the second quarter. Hoese & Co LLP now owns 260 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ GOOG opened at $165.11 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $175.10 and a 200-day moving average of $165.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 2.08 and a current ratio of 2.08. The stock has a market cap of $2.03 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.05. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $121.46 and a 52-week high of $193.31.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $84.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $84.22 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 26.70% and a return on equity of 30.49%. Alphabet’s quarterly revenue was up 13.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.44 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.66, for a total transaction of $3,772,350.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,159,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $362,126,319.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.66, for a total transaction of $3,772,350.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,159,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $362,126,319.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.85, for a total transaction of $278,775.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 30,824 shares in the company, valued at $5,728,640.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 178,383 shares of company stock valued at $30,906,970. 12.99% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on GOOG. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities cut shares of Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $181.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Friday, June 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $182.86.

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.