Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC Raises Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Key Points

• Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 6.2%, owning 25,851 shares, which are valued at approximately $4,586,000.
• Alphabet posted $2.31 earnings per share in its latest quarter, exceeding analyst estimates of $2.12, with a revenue of $96.43 billion.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, translating to an annualized yield of 0.3% and a payout ratio of 8.95%.

Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 6.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 25,851 shares of the information services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 1,501 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for about 0.4% of Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest holding. Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $4,586,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Independence Bank of Kentucky grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 10.2% in the first quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 14,907 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,329,000 after acquiring an additional 1,376 shares during the period. RDA Financial Network grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 5.3% in the second quarter. RDA Financial Network now owns 11,094 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,968,000 after acquiring an additional 554 shares during the period. Fermata Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.7% in the first quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC now owns 9,771 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,527,000 after acquiring an additional 259 shares during the period. Oldfather Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the second quarter worth approximately $213,000. Finally, Members Trust Co grew its position in Alphabet by 84.7% during the first quarter. Members Trust Co now owns 4,999 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $781,000 after buying an additional 2,292 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Performance

GOOG opened at $243.55 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $2.95 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.94, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $142.66 and a 1-year high of $256.70. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $218.70 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $185.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.90.

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

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the company's 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 owned 42,999 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,371,905.30. This represents a 35.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 2,778 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $245.00, for a total transaction of $680,610.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 17,293 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,236,785. This represents a 13.84% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 225,469 shares of company stock valued at $46,586,752 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on GOOG. Robert W. Baird boosted 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $232.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Cowen restated a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Citizens Jmp raised Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Pivotal Research lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $245.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have given a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $230.35.

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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