Verus Financial Partners Inc. Acquires 228 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Verus Financial Partners Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 9.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 2,710 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 228 shares during the period. Verus Financial Partners Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $479,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the first quarter worth approximately $4,317,606,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Alphabet by 2.9% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 509,826,331 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $78,839,544,000 after purchasing an additional 14,307,345 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 11.4% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 43,865,520 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $6,783,364,000 after purchasing an additional 4,473,901 shares in the last quarter. Amundi raised its position in Alphabet by 11.8% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 33,403,871 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $5,034,992,000 after purchasing an additional 3,537,173 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Evergreen Quality Fund GP Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 178.3% during the first quarter. Evergreen Quality Fund GP Ltd. now owns 4,003,900 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $619,163,000 after buying an additional 2,565,400 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOGL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 18th. BNP Paribas cut shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Loop Capital reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $190.00 price target (up previously from $165.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $225.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 15th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have assigned a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $245.88.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.44, for a total value of $149,664.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 5,716 shares in the company, valued at $1,425,799.04. This trade represents a 9.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 103 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.13, for a total transaction of $25,042.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 17,284 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,202,258.92. The trade was a 0.59% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 276,738 shares of company stock worth $59,135,475. Corporate insiders own 11.64% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Down 2.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $236.57 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $226.31 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $188.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.90. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $140.53 and a one year high of $256.00. The company has a market cap of $2.86 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.19, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.00.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.16. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. The firm had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $93.60 billion. Analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 8th were given a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.95%.

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.