Cooper Financial Group Purchases 3,144 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• Cooper Financial Group increased its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 4.6%, acquiring an additional 3,144 shares in the first quarter, bringing their total holdings to approximately $11 million.
• CEO Sundar Pichai and Director Kavitark Ram Shriram recently sold significant portions of their shares, with Pichai selling 32,500 shares and Shriram selling 15,000 shares, indicating a decrease in their ownership.
• Alphabet has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, with an annualized yield of 0.4%, and is expected to post an EPS of 8.9 for the current year.

Cooper Financial Group increased its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 4.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 71,512 shares of the information services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 3,144 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises about 1.5% of Cooper Financial Group's investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest position. Cooper Financial Group's holdings in Alphabet were worth $11,059,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in GOOGL. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 242.9% during the first 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 period. von Borstel & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the first quarter valued at $28,000. IMA Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the first quarter valued at $28,000. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 85.7% during the first quarter. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC now owns 195 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the period. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the first quarter valued at $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL traded down $2.25 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $199.32. 28,901,311 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 35,460,480. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.41 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.23, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $185.70 and a 200 day simple moving average of $173.38. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $140.53 and a twelve month high of $207.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.15 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $96,428,000 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.60 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.95%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Westpark Capital increased their target price on Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Alphabet from $185.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Loop Capital reissued a "hold" rating and issued a $190.00 target price (up previously from $165.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. BNP Paribas Exane reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $172.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on Alphabet from $203.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have given a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $211.53.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 42,999 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,371,905.30. This trade represents a 35.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.52, for a total value of $5,801,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,559,892 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $456,991,919.84. The trade was a 1.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 242,319 shares of company stock worth $44,243,272. 11.64% of the stock is 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.