Gradient Investments LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Key Points

• Gradient Investments LLC increased its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 1.8% during the second quarter, now holding 488,091 shares worth approximately $86.58 million.
• Alphabet recently reported quarterly earnings, achieving an EPS of $2.31, exceeding estimates, with revenue up 13.8% year-over-year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, which will be paid on September 15th, representing an annualized yield of 0.3%.

Gradient Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 488,091 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 8,610 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises approximately 1.6% of Gradient Investments LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position. Gradient Investments LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $86,583,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 111.8% during the 1st quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 161 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 1st quarter worth $26,000. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 1st quarter worth $32,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 1st quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 1st quarter worth $34,000. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $241.38 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $202.67 and a 200-day simple moving average of $178.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.90. The firm has a market cap of $2.92 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $142.66 and a 1-year high of $242.57.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.19. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. The firm had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.67 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.89 earnings per share. Alphabet's revenue for the quarter was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $200,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 6,916 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,383,200. This trade represents a 12.63% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.92, for a total transaction of $6,497,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,462,392 shares in the company, valued at approximately $492,281,408.64. The trade was a 1.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 254,710 shares of company stock valued at $49,208,380. 12.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on GOOG. Citizens Jmp upgraded shares of Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Piper Sandler reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Raymond James Financial reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $210.00 price target (up from $185.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. BNP Paribas lowered shares of Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, KeyCorp set a $265.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $227.56.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.