Independence Bank of Kentucky Increases Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Independence Bank of Kentucky raised its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 9.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 60,426 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 5,204 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for approximately 2.9% of Independence Bank of Kentucky’s holdings, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Independence Bank of Kentucky’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $11,007,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Optas LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Optas LLC now owns 127,167 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $23,163,000 after buying an additional 2,012 shares during the period. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 9.1% in the 2nd quarter. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC now owns 17,800 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,242,000 after purchasing an additional 1,485 shares during the last quarter. Aries Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter. Aries Wealth Management now owns 28,637 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $5,216,000 after purchasing an additional 1,097 shares during the last quarter. SNS Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 4.1% in the 2nd quarter. SNS Financial Group LLC now owns 11,909 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,169,000 after purchasing an additional 467 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pettinga Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 20.7% in the 2nd quarter. Pettinga Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,985 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $362,000 after purchasing an additional 340 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GOOGL has been the topic of several analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $204.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $190.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. 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 report on Tuesday, July 23rd. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $204.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $190.00 to $196.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $203.74.

Alphabet Price Performance

NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $163.38 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $173.13 and a 200 day simple moving average of $164.05. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $120.21 and a 52-week high of $191.75. 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 $2.01 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.06, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $84.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $70.60 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 26.70% and a return on equity of 30.49%. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.44 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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 paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 9th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 12.27%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.58, for a total transaction of $3,973,050.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,235,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $394,746,532.38. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.58, for a total transaction of $3,973,050.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,235,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $394,746,532.38. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.47, for a total transaction of $125,126.54. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 30,650 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,623,355.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 155,883 shares of company stock valued at $26,705,320 in the last ninety days. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Profile

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.