Souders Financial Advisors Sells 2,199 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Souders Financial Advisors reduced its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 7.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 27,229 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 2,199 shares during the quarter. Souders Financial Advisors' holdings in Alphabet were worth $4,254,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 111.8% during the 1st quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 161 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $26,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth $38,000. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on GOOG. Citizens Jmp upgraded shares of Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Rosenblatt Securities raised Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Lake Street Capital reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $208.40.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.38, for a total transaction of $5,992,350.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,527,392 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $466,000,536.96. This trade represents a 1.27% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 400 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.98, for a total transaction of $72,792.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 6,013 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,094,245.74. The trade was a 6.24% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 215,843 shares of company stock worth $37,288,490 in the last ninety days. 12.99% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $185.94 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $2.26 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.01. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $174.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $174.61. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $142.66 and a one year high of $208.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a current ratio of 1.77.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a net margin of 30.86% and a return on equity of 34.54%. The company had revenue of $90.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.30 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.89 earnings per share. Alphabet's revenue was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th were given a $0.21 dividend. This is a positive change from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 9th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.45%. Alphabet's payout ratio is presently 9.36%.

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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