Financial Strategies Group Inc. Increases Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Financial Strategies Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 22.8% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 43,876 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,156 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for about 1.9% of Financial Strategies Group Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest position. Financial Strategies Group Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $6,939,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in GOOG. Exchange Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Alphabet by 2.9% during the first quarter. Exchange Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,091 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $927,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. Deepwater Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 18.5% in the 1st quarter. Deepwater Asset Management LLC now owns 89,082 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $13,564,000 after acquiring an additional 13,927 shares during the last quarter. Westhampton Capital LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 23.9% in the 1st quarter. Westhampton Capital LLC now owns 4,040 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $615,000 after acquiring an additional 780 shares during the last quarter. Cullinan Associates Inc. grew its stake in Alphabet by 8.4% in the 1st quarter. Cullinan Associates Inc. now owns 124,621 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $18,975,000 after acquiring an additional 9,612 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Iams Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 18.1% in the 1st quarter. Iams Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,431 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $370,000 after acquiring an additional 373 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $154.00 to $174.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Rosenblatt Securities cut shares of Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $181.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $165.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $172.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $167.86.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.47, for a total value of $125,126.54. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 30,650 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,623,355.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.56, for a total value of $127,648.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 7,991 shares in the company, valued at $1,275,043.96. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.47, for a total transaction of $125,126.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 30,650 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,623,355.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 123,788 shares of company stock valued at $21,143,403. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

Alphabet stock opened at $186.61 on Wednesday. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $115.83 and a 12-month high of $187.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.31 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.62, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.05. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $174.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is $156.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 2.15 and a quick ratio of 2.15.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.38. Alphabet had a net margin of 25.90% and a return on equity of 29.52%. The company had revenue of $80.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $78.75 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.17 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a — dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Investors of record on Monday, June 10th were given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 12.27%.

Alphabet Profile

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.