Waycross Partners LLC Increases Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Waycross Partners LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 10.9% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 186,756 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 18,302 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up 5.2% of Waycross Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Waycross Partners LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $34,018,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Alphabet by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 497,874,324 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $75,144,172,000 after buying an additional 4,064,073 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position in Alphabet by 14.4% during the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 57,803,291 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $8,724,251,000 after purchasing an additional 7,275,757 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 49,472,478 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $9,011,412,000 after acquiring an additional 238,403 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 3.3% in the 4th 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. Finally, Capital World Investors increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 35,412,299 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $5,344,778,000 after acquiring an additional 597,756 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

Alphabet stock opened at $163.95 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $162.83 and its 200 day moving average is $166.68. 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 firm 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 quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share (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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $70.60 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.44 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.63 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 9th were paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.27%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 2nd. The stock was 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 owns 30,650 shares in the company, valued at $5,623,355.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.85, for a total transaction of $278,775.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 30,824 shares in the company, valued at $5,728,640.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 30,650 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,623,355.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 177,605 shares of company stock valued at $29,277,931. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GOOGL has been the subject of a number of research reports. Tigress Financial increased their target price on Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Argus raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Alphabet from $205.00 to $190.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Guggenheim raised their price target on Alphabet from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Alphabet from $200.00 to $208.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $201.35.

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.