S&A Financial Services Inc. Invests $584,000 in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• S&A Financial Services acquired 2,029 Alphabet shares worth approximately $584,000 during the first quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own about 40.03% of Alphabet’s stock.
• Alphabet reported quarterly revenue of $119.8 billion and EPS of $9.11, exceeding analyst estimates of $117.07 billion and $2.89, respectively. Analysts expect $20.51 in full-year EPS.
• Wall Street maintains a bullish outlook, with a consensus “Buy” rating and a $419.86 price target; investor sentiment is supported by strong Google Cloud growth, AI demand and Alphabet’s balance sheet.

S&A Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 2,029 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $584,000.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. acquired a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. EMC Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. IFC & Insurance Marketing Inc. acquired a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. Bard Associates Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $52,000. Finally, iSAM Funds UK Ltd purchased a new position in Alphabet during the third quarter worth about $53,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $354.30 on Monday. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $355.68 and its 200 day simple moving average is $340.49. The company has a current ratio of 2.72, a quick ratio of 2.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $196.60 and a twelve month high of $408.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.33 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.80, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.24.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The information services provider reported $9.11 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.89 by $6.22. The company had revenue of $119.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $117.07 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 51.32% and a net margin of 54.77%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 20.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 14th. Investors of record on Monday, September 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 4th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 4.42%.

Key Alphabet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Google Cloud revenue reportedly increased 82% in the second quarter, with backlog reaching $514 billion, while the Gemini app reached approximately 950 million monthly active users. The results reinforce the commercial demand supporting Alphabet’s AI and cloud investments. Google's AI business is booming, so why are DeepMind's biggest names quitting?
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and investors continue to highlight Alphabet’s strong cash generation, balance sheet and valuation relative to its growth prospects. Some market models see the shares reaching $400 as Cloud momentum and AI monetization continue. Price Prediction: Google Will Hit $400 on This Date
• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s expanded Google Cloud partnership with AI lab Mirendil, reportedly worth more than $100 million over multiple years, provides another example of demand for its computing infrastructure. Mirendil Google Cloud deal

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on GOOGL. Phillip Securities raised shares of Alphabet from a "moderate buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Zacks Research raised shares of Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Citigroup reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, May 4th. Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $395.00 price objective (down from $445.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $411.00 price objective on Alphabet and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-four have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $419.86.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 8,998 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $349.29, for a total transaction of $3,142,911.42. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 75,290 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $26,298,044.10. The trade was a 10.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $368.63, for a total transaction of $387,061.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 1,481 shares of the company's stock, valued at $545,941.03. This trade represents a 41.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 600,547 shares of company stock valued at $16,255,540. Corporate insiders own 11.61% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Profile

Alphabet Inc is the holding company created in 2015 to organize Google and a portfolio of businesses developing technologies beyond Google’s core internet services. Its principal operations are led by Google, which builds and operates consumer-facing products such as Google Search, YouTube, Android, Chrome, Gmail, Google Maps and Google Workspace, as well as advertising platforms (Google Ads and AdSense) that historically generate the majority of its revenue. Google also develops consumer hardware (Pixel phones, Nest smart-home devices, Chromecast) and developer and distribution platforms such as Google Play.

Beyond Google’s consumer and advertising businesses, Alphabet invests in enterprise and infrastructure offerings through Google Cloud, which provides cloud computing, data analytics and productivity services to businesses and institutions.

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