LifeSteps Financial Inc. Increases Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

LifeSteps Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 15.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,048 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 529 shares during the period. LifeSteps Financial Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $718,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Detalus Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the second quarter worth $219,000. Nelson Capital Management LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 0.9% during the second quarter. Nelson Capital Management LLC now owns 84,176 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $14,932,000 after acquiring an additional 789 shares during the period. Northern Financial Advisors Inc raised its position in Alphabet by 10.2% during the second quarter. Northern Financial Advisors Inc now owns 1,799 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $319,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares during the period. WoodTrust Financial Corp raised its position in Alphabet by 6.3% during the second quarter. WoodTrust Financial Corp now owns 56,125 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $9,832,000 after acquiring an additional 3,347 shares during the period. Finally, Traphagen Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 3.2% during the second quarter. Traphagen Investment Advisors LLC now owns 14,443 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,562,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Frances Arnold sold 103 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.13, for a total transaction of $25,042.39. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 17,284 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,202,258.92. This trade represents a 0.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 953 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $241.20, for a total transaction of $229,863.60. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 17,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,171,312.80. The trade was a 5.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 276,738 shares of company stock valued at $59,135,475 in the last quarter. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GOOG has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Mizuho upgraded shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Lake Street Capital restated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Pivotal Research upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $245.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 22nd. Finally, Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and set a $210.00 price objective (up from $185.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have issued a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $241.00.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GOOG opened at $237.49 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $226.97 and a 200-day simple moving average of $189.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.87 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $142.66 and a 52 week high of $256.70.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) 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 $2.12 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.67 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.89 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 8th were given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 8th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.95%.

Alphabet Company Profile

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.