GSB Wealth Management LLC Boosts Stake in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• GSB Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 22.2% during Q2, bringing its total to 17,223 shares worth $3,035,000.
• Alphabet's recent earnings report showed an EPS of $2.31, exceeding estimates, with a revenue of $96.43 billion.
• A quarterly dividend of $0.21 was declared, with an annualized yield of 0.3% and a payout ratio of 8.95%.

GSB Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 22.2% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 17,223 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 3,131 shares during the quarter. GSB Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $3,035,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in GOOGL. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 242.9% during the 1st quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 168 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the period. von Borstel & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 1st quarter worth $28,000. IMA Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 1st quarter worth $28,000. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 85.7% during the 1st quarter. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC now owns 195 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the period. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 1st quarter worth $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $245.79 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $140.53 and a 12-month high of $256.00. The company has a market cap of $2.97 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.67 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 stock has a fifty day moving average price of $214.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $182.46.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%.The firm had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $93.60 billion. Research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 8th were issued a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 8th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is currently 8.95%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOGL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Moffett Nathanson increased their price target on Alphabet from $230.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. Tigress Financial increased their target price on Alphabet from $240.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on Alphabet from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. UBS Group increased their target price on Alphabet from $192.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Phillip Securities lowered Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Monday, September 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-three have assigned a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $232.90.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.44, for a total transaction 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total value of $4,637,754.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 42,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,371,905.30. This represents a 35.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 258,088 shares of company stock valued at $52,405,304. 11.64% of the stock is currently owned by 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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