Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Holdings Lifted by Ashton Thomas Securities LLC

Ashton Thomas Securities LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 22,671 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 484 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for 1.0% of Ashton Thomas Securities LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest position. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $3,995,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

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

Alphabet Stock Down 1.3%

GOOGL opened at $241.53 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $140.53 and a fifty-two week high of $256.00. The business has a 50-day moving average of $225.37 and a 200-day moving average of $188.04. 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 company has a market capitalization of $2.92 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.00.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%.The company had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $93.60 billion. Equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.95%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.44, for a total value of $149,664.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 5,716 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,425,799.04. This trade represents a 9.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,816 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.42, for a total value of $4,408,034.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 42,985 shares in the company, valued at $10,635,348.70. The trade was a 29.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 276,738 shares of company stock worth $59,135,475. 11.64% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOGL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Melius Research raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $255.00 in a report on Thursday, September 25th. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $225.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 22nd. Citizens Jmp raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $250.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 19th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $235.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Finally, Roth Capital raised their price objective on Alphabet from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have issued a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $244.62.

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.