Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Shares Purchased by Thomas Story & Son LLC

Thomas Story & Son LLC increased its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 3.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 40,687 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,377 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for about 2.8% of Thomas Story & Son LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest position. Thomas Story & Son LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $7,170,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Integrated Quantitative Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the 2nd quarter worth about $4,300,000. Western Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.0% in the second quarter. Western Wealth Management LLC now owns 87,031 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $15,338,000 after purchasing an additional 1,705 shares during the last quarter. Bell Investment Advisors Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.6% during the second quarter. Bell Investment Advisors Inc now owns 9,426 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,661,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the period. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. boosted its position in Alphabet by 0.4% in the second quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 370,992 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $65,380,000 after buying an additional 1,448 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Financial Gravity Companies Inc. acquired a new position in Alphabet in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOGL stock opened at $320.02 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $140.53 and a 12-month high of $328.83. The business’s 50 day moving average is $269.25 and its two-hundred day moving average is $218.76. The company has a market capitalization of $3.86 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.29 by $0.58. Alphabet had a return on equity of 36.08% and a net margin of 32.23%.The business had revenue of $102.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $99.90 billion. Analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 8th will be given a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 8th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.28%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.06, for a total transaction of $168,036.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 4,516 shares in the company, valued at $1,264,750.96. This represents a 11.73% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,778 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.26, for a total transaction of $800,786.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 11,739 shares in the company, valued at $3,383,884.14. This represents a 19.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 225,072 shares of company stock worth $58,074,027 over the last three months. Company insiders own 11.64% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on GOOGL. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $260.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. DZ Bank restated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price target on Alphabet from $270.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $306.00 price objective (up previously from $255.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, HSBC upped their target price on Alphabet from $295.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-one have issued a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $307.84.

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.