Alphabet Inc. $GOOG Shares Acquired by Essex Financial Services Inc.

Key Points

• Essex Financial Services Inc. increased its holdings in Alphabet Inc. by 3.6% in Q2, bringing their total ownership to 51,536 shares valued at approximately $9.14 million.
• In its latest quarterly earnings report, Alphabet reported $96.43 billion in revenue, beating analyst expectations, and achieved $2.31 EPS, surpassing estimates by $0.19.
• Alphabet recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, translating to an annualized yield of approximately 0.3% and a payout ratio of 8.95%.

Essex Financial Services Inc. lifted its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 3.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 51,536 shares of the information services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 1,813 shares during the quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $9,142,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Alphabet by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 411,570,922 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $64,299,725,000 after purchasing an additional 9,687,855 shares in the last quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 580,897.4% in the 2nd quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 135,087,705 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $23,963,208,000 after purchasing an additional 135,064,454 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 9.9% during the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 102,232,997 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $15,971,861,000 after buying an additional 9,243,959 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG grew its position in Alphabet by 5.4% during the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 21,345,784 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $3,334,852,000 after buying an additional 1,098,996 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Alphabet by 2.2% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 20,380,073 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $3,183,979,000 after buying an additional 440,526 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of GOOG opened at $247.18 on Friday. 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 one year low of $142.66 and a one year high of $256.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.99 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.32, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.01. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $216.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $184.28.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.19. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%.The company had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.67 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.89 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total transaction of $4,637,754.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 42,999 shares in the company, valued at $8,371,905.30. The trade was a 35.65% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total value of $3,448,820.16. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 243,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at $45,213,984. This trade represents a 7.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 258,088 shares of company stock valued at $52,405,304. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on GOOG shares. Phillip Securities cut Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Monday, September 8th. KeyCorp set a $265.00 price target on Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $220.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, June 2nd. Lake Street Capital reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have given a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $230.35.

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.

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