Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC Boosts Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 29.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,103 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 475 shares during the period. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $371,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of GOOGL. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 242.9% in the first quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 168 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares during the period. von Borstel & Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. IMA Advisory Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 85.7% in the first quarter. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC now owns 195 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the period. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the first quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.7%

GOOGL stock opened at $253.30 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.06 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.00. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $140.53 and a one year high of $256.96. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $231.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $191.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 1.90.

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

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,397,392 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $598,149,304. The trade was a 1.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,778 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $245.00, for a total transaction of $680,610.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 17,293 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,236,785. The trade was a 13.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 246,150 shares of company stock valued at $55,805,379. 11.64% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on GOOGL shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $288.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday. BMO Capital Markets set a $294.00 target price on shares of Alphabet and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 4th. Susquehanna lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, HSBC started coverage on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $285.00 target price for the company. Four 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $252.24.

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.