Prospect Financial Services LLC Decreases Stake in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Prospect Financial Services LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 25.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,966 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 7,049 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises about 2.2% of Prospect Financial Services LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. Prospect Financial Services LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $3,695,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in Alphabet by 242.9% in the 1st quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 168 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. IMA Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 85.7% in the first 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 last quarter. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 36.4% in the second quarter. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. now owns 251 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet during the first quarter worth approximately $50,000. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. DZ Bank reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $320.00 target price (up from $245.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $306.00 target price (up from $255.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Moffett Nathanson increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $305.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, BNP Paribas started coverage on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $355.00 price objective for the company. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-one have issued a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $307.84.

Alphabet Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $319.95 on Thursday. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $140.53 and a fifty-two week high of $328.83. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $266.58 and its 200 day moving average price is $216.93. 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 stock has a market cap of $3.86 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.87 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.29 by $0.58. Alphabet had a net margin of 32.23% and a return on equity of 36.08%. The company had revenue of $102.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $99.90 billion. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis 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 Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.15, for a total transaction of $8,129,875.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,369,619 shares in the company, valued at $592,760,192.85. The trade was a 1.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,778 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.05, for a total value of $694,638.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 14,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,629,725.80. This trade represents a 16.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 225,072 shares of company stock valued at $58,074,027. 11.64% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.