IFP Advisors Inc Acquires 3,463 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Key Points

• IFP Advisors Inc increased its holdings in Alphabet Inc. by 4.4%, acquiring an additional 3,463 shares in the second quarter, bringing its total to 81,349 shares valued at approximately $14.44 million.
• Several hedge funds also made significant adjustments to their positions in Alphabet, with Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC dramatically increasing its stake by 580,897.4% during the same period.
• Alphabet recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, representing an annualized yield of 0.4% and a payout ratio of 8.95%.

IFP Advisors Inc raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 4.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 81,349 shares of the information services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 3,463 shares during the quarter. IFP Advisors Inc's holdings in Alphabet were worth $14,438,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in GOOG. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 580,897.4% during the 2nd quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 135,087,705 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $23,963,208,000 after acquiring an additional 135,064,454 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 1st quarter worth approximately $2,622,943,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 411,570,922 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $64,299,725,000 after acquiring an additional 9,687,855 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 9.9% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 102,232,997 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $15,971,861,000 after acquiring an additional 9,243,959 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strs Ohio bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 1st quarter worth approximately $369,713,000. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Monday, August 4th. The shares were 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 directly owned 42,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,371,905.30. The trade was a 35.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of Alphabet 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 transaction, the director directly owned 243,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $45,213,984. This trade represents a 7.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 276,338 shares of company stock valued at $59,062,683 over the last ninety days. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.9%

GOOG stock opened at $237.49 on Monday. 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 company has a fifty day moving average price of $226.97 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $189.99. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $142.66 and a one year high of $256.70. The stock has a market cap of $2.87 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.00.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 analysts' expectations of $93.67 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.89 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 8th were given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 8th. Alphabet's payout ratio is 8.95%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on GOOG shares. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Alphabet to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Oppenheimer reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $270.00 target price (up from $235.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Roth Capital reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $270.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $241.00.

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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