Hardin Capital Partners LLC Invests $272,000 in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Hardin Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 1,495 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $272,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Zions Bancorporation N.A. lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 75.1% during the 2nd quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 29,117 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $5,304,000 after acquiring an additional 12,488 shares during the period. RS Crum Inc. acquired a new position in Alphabet in the second quarter valued at about $221,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 12.4% during the second quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC now owns 2,993 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $545,000 after purchasing an additional 330 shares during the period. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Alphabet by 1.5% during the second quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 26,078 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $4,750,000 after buying an additional 379 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Advisory Services Inc. increased its holdings in Alphabet by 45.5% in the 2nd quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 100,375 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $18,283,000 after buying an additional 31,380 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Argus boosted their target price on Alphabet from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $206.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $181.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $220.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on Alphabet from $200.00 to $206.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Eight equities research 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 data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $201.35.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 30,650 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,623,355.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 700 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.00, for a total transaction of $115,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 27,824 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,590,960. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 30,650 shares in the company, valued at $5,623,355.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 180,867 shares of company stock worth $29,878,106 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $163.95 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $163.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $166.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 2.08 and a current ratio of 2.08. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $120.21 and a 52-week high of $191.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.03 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.04.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.04. Alphabet had a net margin of 26.70% and a return on equity of 30.49%. The business had revenue of $84.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $70.60 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.44 EPS. Analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 9th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 9th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 12.27%.

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.