Lazari Capital Management Inc. Buys Shares of 2,660 Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Lazari Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 2,660 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $488,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Park Avenue Securities LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 11.9% in the first quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 109,878 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $16,730,000 after purchasing an additional 11,646 shares during the last quarter. Colonial River Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 5.3% during the second quarter. Colonial River Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,126 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $390,000 after buying an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 4.6% during the first quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC now owns 187,229 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $28,508,000 after buying an additional 8,201 shares during the last quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 4.6% during the 2nd quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 11,366 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,097,000 after acquiring an additional 498 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alliance Wealth Management Group lifted its position in Alphabet by 93.6% during the first quarter. Alliance Wealth Management Group now owns 3,910 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $595,000 after purchasing an additional 1,890 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $168.42 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $163.71 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $168.51. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $121.46 and a 52 week high of $193.31. The company has a quick ratio of 2.08, a current ratio of 2.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.08 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.83, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.04.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued 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. The business had revenue of $84.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $84.22 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 30.49% and a net margin of 26.70%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.44 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 9th were issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 9th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.48%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.27%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,802 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.47, for a total value of $2,780,226.94. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 43,999 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,280,514.53. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.00, for a total value of $115,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 27,824 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,590,960. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,802 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.47, for a total transaction of $2,780,226.94. Following the sale, the insider now owns 43,999 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,280,514.53. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 193,725 shares of company stock valued at $31,933,031. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on GOOG. Pivotal Research began coverage on Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $215.00 price target for the company. Wolfe Research raised shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $185.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Rosenblatt Securities cut shares of Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $181.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price target on Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $183.75.

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.