HRC Wealth Management LLC Takes Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• HRC Wealth Management LLC acquired 1,200 shares of Alphabet Inc. valued at approximately $211,000 during Q2, contributing to a trend of increasing institutional investments in the company.
• Several research analysts have raised their price targets for Alphabet, with JMP Securities setting a target of $290.00 and UBS Group increasing it to $255.00.
• Insider activity includes significant stock sales by CAO Amie Thuener O'toole and Director Kavitark Ram Shriram, indicating a decrease in ownership but not affecting overall institutional control, which stands at 40.03%.

HRC Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 1,200 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $211,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in Alphabet by 242.9% during the first 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 in the last quarter. von Borstel & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in Alphabet during the first quarter worth approximately $28,000. IMA Advisory Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the first quarter valued at $28,000. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 85.7% in the first quarter. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC now owns 195 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the first quarter valued at $39,000. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on GOOGL shares. BNP Paribas Exane reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $172.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, June 27th. UBS Group upped their price target on Alphabet from $237.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, October 9th. JMP Securities upped their price target on Alphabet from $250.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a report on Friday, September 19th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Alphabet from $200.00 to $218.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Phillip Securities cut Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a report on Monday, September 8th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have given a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $249.26.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 2,778 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $245.00, for a total value of $680,610.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 17,293 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,236,785. This represents a 13.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total transaction of $3,448,820.16. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 243,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at $45,213,984. This represents a 7.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 243,838 shares of company stock valued at $53,070,333. Insiders own 11.55% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.5%

Alphabet stock opened at $245.45 on Wednesday. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $228.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $189.86. 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 12 month low of $140.53 and a 12 month high of $256.00. The stock has a market cap of $2.97 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.14, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.00.

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

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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

Alphabet Company 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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