J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. Acquires 992 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 72,065 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 992 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises about 0.6% of J.W. Cole Advisors Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest position. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $13,127,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Alta Advisers Ltd increased its position in Alphabet by 1.9% during the second quarter. Alta Advisers Ltd now owns 16,100 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,933,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. American Financial & Tax Strategies Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 2nd quarter worth about $233,000. OV Management LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. OV Management LLC now owns 38,136 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $6,946,000 after purchasing an additional 362 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Alphabet by 5.0% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,816,038 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,241,541,000 after purchasing an additional 325,420 shares during the period. Finally, Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Alphabet by 15.0% in the second quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 465,680 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $84,824,000 after purchasing an additional 60,814 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.47, for a total value 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.00, for a total transaction of $115,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 27,824 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,590,960. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.47, for a total value of $125,126.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 30,650 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,623,355.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 180,867 shares of company stock valued at $29,878,106. Corporate insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOGL opened at $163.95 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 2.08 and a current ratio of 2.08. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $162.83 and a two-hundred day moving average of $166.49. The stock has a market cap of $2.03 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.04. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $120.21 and a one year high of $191.75.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $70.60 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.44 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Investors of record on Monday, September 9th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 9th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 12.27%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GOOGL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $240.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup increased their target price on Alphabet from $190.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Argus boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, TD Securities boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $201.35.

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.