Wright Investors Service Inc. Has $7.52 Million Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Wright Investors Service Inc. grew its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 11.8% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 40,986 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,342 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for approximately 2.0% of Wright Investors Service Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. Wright Investors Service Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $7,518,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $51,000. Riversedge Advisors LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 9.7% during the 2nd quarter. Riversedge Advisors LLC now owns 5,318 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $975,000 after buying an additional 470 shares in the last quarter. Whitaker Myers Wealth Managers LTD. grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 16.9% in the 2nd quarter. Whitaker Myers Wealth Managers LTD. now owns 3,235 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $593,000 after acquiring an additional 467 shares in the last quarter. Trajan Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 14.2% during the second quarter. Trajan Wealth LLC now owns 65,192 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $11,958,000 after acquiring an additional 8,131 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sterling Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 12.5% in the second quarter. Sterling Investment Management LLC now owns 15,805 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,899,000 after purchasing an additional 1,760 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of GOOG opened at $164.50 on Thursday. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $121.46 and a 12-month 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 cap of $2.03 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.23, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.05. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $175.92 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $165.02.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $84.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $84.22 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 26.70% and a return on equity of 30.49%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.44 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Investors of record on Monday, September 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 9th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 12.27%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.66, for a total value of $3,772,350.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,159,885 shares in the company, valued at approximately $362,126,319.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.66, for a total transaction of $3,772,350.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,159,885 shares in the company, valued at $362,126,319.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.86, for a total transaction of $118,572.52. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 29,966 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,209,888.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 179,065 shares of company stock worth $31,025,543 in the last quarter. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOG has been the subject of several analyst reports. Rosenblatt Securities cut shares of Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $181.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Friday, June 28th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Alphabet from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $182.86.

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.