Exeter Financial LLC Buys 11,440 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• Exeter Financial LLC significantly increased its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 706.6% during the second quarter, acquiring an additional 11,440 shares to reach a total of 13,059 shares valued at approximately $2.3 million.
• Alphabet's recent earnings report showed an EPS of $2.31, surpassing analyst expectations of $2.15, with revenue of $96.43 billion also exceeding forecasts.
• The company recently declared a $0.21 quarterly dividend, resulting in an annualized payout of $0.84, which equates to a yield of 0.3%.

Exeter Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 706.6% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 13,059 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 11,440 shares during the quarter. Exeter Financial LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $2,301,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Missouri Trust & Investment Co lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Missouri Trust & Investment Co now owns 16,916 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,981,000 after buying an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. AM Investment Strategies LLC increased its position in Alphabet by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. AM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 6,477 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,141,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the period. Bfsg LLC increased its position in Alphabet by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Bfsg LLC now owns 10,428 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,838,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the period. Enzi Wealth increased its position in Alphabet by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Enzi Wealth now owns 2,561 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $408,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the period. Finally, Park Capital Management LLC WI increased its position in Alphabet by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Park Capital Management LLC WI now owns 6,005 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,058,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $246.54 on Monday. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $215.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $183.28. The company has a market cap of $2.98 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.26, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $140.53 and a 52-week high of $256.00.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last released its 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 $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $93.60 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 8th were paid 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 (DPR) is 8.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the director directly owned 5,716 shares in the company, valued at $1,425,799.04. This trade 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, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of Alphabet 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 sale, the insider owned 42,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,371,905.30. This trade represents a 35.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 257,866 shares of company stock worth $52,363,610 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $184.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, September 22nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-three have issued a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $233.44.

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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