Essex Financial Services Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Essex Financial Services Inc. increased its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 10.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 120,917 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,349 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up about 1.1% of Essex Financial Services Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. Essex Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $22,025,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Alphabet by 0.8% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 497,874,324 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $75,144,172,000 after acquiring an additional 4,064,073 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at about $15,441,917,000. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in Alphabet by 14.4% during the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 57,803,291 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $8,724,251,000 after buying an additional 7,275,757 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in Alphabet by 0.5% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 49,472,478 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $9,011,412,000 after buying an additional 238,403 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 45,178,075 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $6,310,925,000 after acquiring an additional 1,429,261 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Up 2.3 %

GOOGL stock opened at $154.69 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $168.12 and a 200 day moving average price of $164.36. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $120.21 and a 12 month high of $191.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 2.08 and a quick ratio of 2.08. The company has a market cap of $1.91 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.04.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.04. Alphabet had a return on equity of 30.49% and a net margin of 26.70%. The firm had revenue of $84.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $70.60 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.44 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 9th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 9th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 12.27%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GOOGL has been the subject of several research reports. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $240.00 price objective on the stock. Citigroup raised their target price on Alphabet from $190.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $208.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $204.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $201.76.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.85, for a total value of $278,775.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 30,824 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,728,640.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.40, for a total transaction of $3,991,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,213,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $392,588,151.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.85, for a total transaction of $278,775.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 30,824 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,728,640.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 179,367 shares of company stock worth $30,016,931. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

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.