Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Shares Purchased by Ignite Planners LLC

Ignite Planners LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 24,141 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 750 shares during the period. Ignite Planners LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $4,467,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of GOOGL. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in Alphabet by 242.9% during the 1st quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 168 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. von Borstel & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in Alphabet during the 1st quarter worth about $28,000. IMA Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 85.7% in the 1st quarter. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC now owns 195 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at about $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.7%

NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $253.30 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $231.55 and its 200 day moving average price is $191.61. The company has a market capitalization of $3.06 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $140.53 and a 52-week high of $256.96.

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

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,778 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $245.00, for a total value of $680,610.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 17,293 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,236,785. This trade represents a 13.84% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.50, for a total value of $8,108,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,397,392 shares in the company, valued at approximately $598,149,304. This trade represents a 1.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 246,150 shares of company stock worth $55,805,379. 11.64% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on GOOGL. Tigress Financial increased their price target on Alphabet from $240.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Wedbush increased their price target on Alphabet from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on Alphabet from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, HSBC began coverage on Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $285.00 price target on the stock. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have given a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $252.24.

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.