Atwood & Palmer Inc. Purchases 2,916 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Key Points

• Atwood & Palmer Inc. increased its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 1.2%, owning approximately 2.8% of its total holdings with a value of $44 million.
• Insiders, including CEO Sundar Pichai, sold a total of 254,710 shares valued at approximately $49 million in the past three months.
• Alphabet announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, yielding 0.3%, with a payout ratio of 8.95%.

Atwood & Palmer Inc. grew its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 248,181 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 2,916 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up about 2.8% of Atwood & Palmer Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest position. Atwood & Palmer Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $44,025,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of GOOG. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 111.8% in the 1st quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 161 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the period. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 1st quarter worth $26,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 1st quarter worth $32,000. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 1st quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 1st quarter worth $34,000. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.44, for a total value of $149,664.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 5,716 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,425,799.04. This represents a 9.50% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total transaction of $2,786,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 240,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at $44,656,704. This trade represents a 5.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 258,088 shares of company stock worth $52,405,304. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of GOOG stock traded up $1.74 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $254.07. 10,470,146 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 23,862,352. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $208.60 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $181.04. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $142.66 and a 1-year high of $254.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.90. The firm has a market cap of $3.07 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.19. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. The firm had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $93.67 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.89 EPS. Alphabet's revenue for the quarter was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 8th were paid a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 8th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is 8.95%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on GOOG. KeyCorp set a $265.00 price target on Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Lake Street Capital reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Citizens Jmp raised Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Phillip Securities cut Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a report on Monday, September 8th. Finally, Barclays reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $227.56.

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.