Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Purchases 5,541 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• Empirical Wealth Management increased its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 7.8% in Q2 2023, acquiring an additional 5,541 shares, bringing its total holdings to 76,355 shares valued at approximately $13.46 million.
• Alphabet's shares currently trade at $236.57, and the company recently reported a significant earnings beat with $2.31 EPS against a consensus estimate of $2.15.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, representing an annual yield of 0.4%, with an ex-dividend date on September 8th.

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management boosted its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 7.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 76,355 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 5,541 shares during the quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management's holdings in Alphabet were worth $13,456,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Missouri Trust & Investment Co grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.3% in the second quarter. Missouri Trust & Investment Co now owns 16,916 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,981,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. AM Investment Strategies LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.9% in the second quarter. AM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 6,477 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,141,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Bfsg LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.6% in the second quarter. Bfsg LLC now owns 10,428 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,838,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Enzi Wealth grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.5% in the first quarter. Enzi Wealth now owns 2,561 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $408,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Powers Advisory Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.8% in the second quarter. Powers Advisory Group LLC now owns 3,562 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $628,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on GOOGL shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Mizuho set a $295.00 price objective on Alphabet and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Guggenheim increased their price objective on Alphabet from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Citizens Jmp increased their price objective on Alphabet from $250.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, September 19th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $172.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have issued a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $245.88.

Alphabet Stock Down 2.1%

Shares of GOOGL opened at $236.57 on Friday. The business's 50 day moving average is $226.31 and its 200 day moving average is $188.49. The company has a market capitalization of $2.86 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.00. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $140.53 and a 12-month high of $256.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $93.60 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%. Research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 8th were issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 8th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the firm'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 completion of the transaction, the insider owned 42,999 shares in the company, valued at $8,371,905.30. This trade represents a 35.65% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of the firm'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 transaction, the director owned 243,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at $45,213,984. This represents a 7.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 276,738 shares of company stock worth $59,135,475 in the last quarter. 11.64% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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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