Spectrum Asset Management Inc. NB CA Purchases 9,444 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Key Points

• Spectrum Asset Management Inc. significantly increased its stake in Alphabet Inc. by 540.6%, acquiring an additional 9,444 shares during the second quarter, bringing its total holdings to 11,191 shares valued at approximately $1,985,000.
• Insiders, including CEO Sundar Pichai, sold a total of 276,738 shares valued at nearly $59 million in the last quarter, with Pichai's ownership decreasing by 1.27%.
• Alphabet's quarterly earnings surpassed expectations, reporting $2.31 EPS and revenue of $96.43 billion, marking a 13.8% increase compared to the previous year.

Spectrum Asset Management Inc. NB CA boosted its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 540.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,191 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 9,444 shares during the quarter. Spectrum Asset Management Inc. NB CA's holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,985,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOG. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet during the 1st quarter worth about $26,000. IFS Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 400.0% in the 2nd quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Robbins Farley increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 60.0% in the 2nd quarter. Robbins Farley now owns 160 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. WestEnd Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 58.7% in the 2nd quarter. WestEnd Advisors LLC now owns 165 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goodman Advisory Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at about $32,000. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.38, for a total transaction of $5,992,350.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,527,392 shares of the company's stock, valued at $466,000,536.96. This represents a 1.27% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total value of $4,637,754.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 42,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,371,905.30. This trade represents a 35.65% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 276,738 shares of company stock valued at $59,135,475 in the last quarter. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of GOOG opened at $237.49 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 1.90. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $226.97 and a 200 day simple moving average of $189.66. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $142.66 and a 52-week high of $256.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.87 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.00.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.19. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%.The business had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.67 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.89 EPS. Alphabet's quarterly revenue was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS 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 dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is 8.95%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on GOOG shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $270.00 price target (up from $235.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Roth Capital reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Pivotal Research upped their price target on Alphabet from $245.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an "equal weight" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus 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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