Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Stock Position Boosted by Hantz Financial Services Inc.

Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 10.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 211,369 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 20,776 shares during the quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $37,250,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 242.9% during the 1st quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 168 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the period. IMA Advisory Services Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet during the first quarter valued at about $28,000. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 85.7% during the first quarter. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC now owns 195 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the period. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in Alphabet during the first quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. raised its position in Alphabet by 36.4% in the second quarter. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. now owns 251 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet Trading Up 4.0%

NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $290.10 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $252.77 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $205.82. 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 Inc. has a twelve month low of $140.53 and a twelve month high of $291.59. The stock has a market cap of $3.51 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.61, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.05.

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

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 8th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 8.28%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $229.73, for a total transaction of $7,466,225.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,429,892 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $558,219,089.16. The trade was a 1.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,816 shares of the company’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 transaction of $4,408,034.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 42,985 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,635,348.70. This represents a 29.30% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 222,396 shares of company stock valued at $54,105,275 in the last 90 days. 11.64% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GOOGL has been the subject of several research reports. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. CIBC increased their target price on shares of Alphabet to $315.00 in a research note on Monday, October 20th. Tigress Financial lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $240.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $333.00 price target on Alphabet in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $320.00 price objective (up previously from $245.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have given a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $304.10.

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.