Alphabet Inc. $GOOG Stock Position Raised by North Star Investment Management Corp.

Key Points

• North Star Investment Management Corp. has increased its stake in Alphabet Inc. (GOOG) by 3.5% in the second quarter, raising its total holdings to $5,511,000.
• Equities analysts have a generally positive outlook for Alphabet, with multiple upgrades; Oppenheimer set a new price target of $270.00, indicating a bullish sentiment.
• Alphabet announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, with a current yield of 0.3%, reflecting a low payout ratio of

North Star Investment Management Corp. increased its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 3.5% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 31,067 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 1,064 shares during the quarter. North Star Investment Management Corp.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $5,511,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOG. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 120,253 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $22,901,000 after acquiring an additional 6,410 shares during the period. Copia Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth approximately $68,000. Wealthedge Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth approximately $260,000. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $206,000. Finally, Milestone Asset Management Group LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $812,000. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Oppenheimer restated an "outperform" rating and set a $270.00 price target (up from $235.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Alphabet from $215.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Lake Street Capital reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating and issued a $220.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, June 2nd. 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 assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $230.35.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 2,778 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $245.00, for a total value of $680,610.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 17,293 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,236,785. This trade represents a 13.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 15,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total value of $2,786,400.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 240,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at $44,656,704. This represents a 5.87% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 258,088 shares of company stock valued at $52,405,304. 12.99% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of GOOG stock opened at $246.57 on Friday. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $215.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $183.72. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $142.66 and a twelve month high of $256.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 1.90. The company has a market capitalization of $2.98 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.26, a PEG ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $93.67 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.89 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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

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.

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