Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL is Morningstar Investment Management LLC’s 5th Largest Position

Morningstar Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 18.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 358,015 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 54,808 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for 5.5% of Morningstar Investment Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position. Morningstar Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $63,093,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 242.9% in the 1st quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 168 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. von Borstel & Associates Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet in the first quarter valued at about $28,000. IMA Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet in the first quarter worth about $28,000. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 85.7% during 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 during the period. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 1st quarter valued at about $39,000. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on GOOGL shares. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 22nd. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $235.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. HSBC started coverage on Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $285.00 price objective for the company. Tigress Financial raised their target price on Alphabet from $240.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. Finally, Phillip Securities lowered Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 8th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have issued a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $263.20.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total value of $4,637,754.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 42,999 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,371,905.30. The trade was a 35.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,778 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 17,293 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,236,785. This represents a 13.84% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 246,150 shares of company stock valued at $55,805,379. Corporate insiders own 11.64% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $259.92 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $236.72 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $195.25. The stock has a market cap of $3.14 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.00. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $140.53 and a 52 week high of $261.68.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.15 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $96.43 billion during 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%. As a group, analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.