Iowa State Bank Grows Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Iowa State Bank grew its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 0.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 47,331 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 360 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises approximately 1.7% of Iowa State Bank’s holdings, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Iowa State Bank’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $8,341,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 3.5% in the second quarter. Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC now owns 28,868 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $5,087,000 after purchasing an additional 976 shares during the period. HRC Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the second quarter worth $211,000. Gratus Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 7.2% in the second quarter. Gratus Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,248 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $572,000 after purchasing an additional 217 shares during the period. Valley National Advisers Inc. increased its stake in Alphabet by 0.9% in the second quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 19,670 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,466,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares during the period. Finally, Autumn Glory Partners LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 4.4% in the second quarter. Autumn Glory Partners LLC now owns 21,019 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,704,000 after purchasing an additional 882 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOGL opened at $245.45 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $228.31 and its two-hundred day moving average is $189.86. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $140.53 and a 1 year high of $256.00. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $2.97 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.00.

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

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GOOGL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wedbush increased their target price on Alphabet from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their target price on Alphabet from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Alphabet from $230.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Citizens Jmp raised their price target on Alphabet from $250.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 19th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have issued a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $249.26.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.41, for a total value of $7,910,825.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,402,119 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $584,699,785.79. This trade represents a 1.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.44, for a total value of $149,664.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 5,716 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,425,799.04. This represents a 9.50% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 243,838 shares of company stock valued at $53,070,333. 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.