Prospera Financial Services Inc Raises Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Prospera Financial Services Inc increased its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 84.3% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 241,695 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 110,538 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises approximately 0.8% of Prospera Financial Services Inc’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. Prospera Financial Services Inc’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $42,879,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. REDW Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. REDW Wealth LLC now owns 2,410 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $428,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. ACT Advisors LLC. raised its stake in Alphabet by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter. ACT Advisors LLC. now owns 1,625 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $288,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the period. Moser Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. Moser Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,545 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $451,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the period. LongView Wealth Management lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 1.1% during the second quarter. LongView Wealth Management now owns 5,126 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $909,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kooman & Associates boosted its position in Alphabet by 1.4% during the second quarter. Kooman & Associates now owns 4,127 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $732,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,816 shares of Alphabet 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 sale, 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $229.73, for a total transaction of $7,466,225.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,429,892 shares in the company, valued at $558,219,089.16. The trade was a 1.32% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 222,396 shares of company stock valued at $54,105,275. 12.99% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Stock Down 2.0%

GOOG opened at $279.70 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.38 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.05. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $142.66 and a one year high of $291.93. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $251.81 and a 200-day moving average price of $205.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.90.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.29 by $0.58. Alphabet had a return on equity of 36.08% and a net margin of 32.23%.The company had revenue of $102.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $99.90 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.12 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 15.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on GOOG shares. Phillip Securities lowered shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald set a $310.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Wolfe Research increased their target price on Alphabet from $290.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. HSBC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $335.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $270.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have assigned a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $324.81.

Alphabet 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.