First Command Advisory Services Inc. Takes $1.51 Million Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

First Command Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 8,268 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,506,000.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of GOOGL. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at about $15,441,917,000. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 14.4% in the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 57,803,291 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $8,724,251,000 after acquiring an additional 7,275,757 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 493,810,251 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $68,980,354,000 after acquiring an additional 6,374,756 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado raised its holdings in Alphabet by 39,754.9% during the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 6,025,667 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $841,725,000 after purchasing an additional 6,010,548 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PineStone Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Alphabet by 143.7% during the second quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,072,197 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,288,201,000 after purchasing an additional 4,170,229 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.44, for a total transaction of $109,420.08. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 32,017 shares in the company, valued at $5,136,807.48. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.44, for a total transaction of $109,420.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 32,017 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,136,807.48. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Prabhakar Raghavan sold 3,262 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.99, for a total transaction of $600,175.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 9 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,655.91. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 134,065 shares of company stock worth $22,841,690 in the last 90 days. 11.55% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOGL opened at $156.45 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $172.04 and a two-hundred day moving average of $164.11. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $120.21 and a 52-week high of $191.75. 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 company has a market cap of $1.93 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced 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. The firm had revenue of $84.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $70.60 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 30.49% and a net margin of 26.70%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.44 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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 given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.27%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Alphabet from $205.00 to $190.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $240.00 target price for the company. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $196.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, May 15th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $204.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Alphabet from $200.00 to $204.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $203.17.

Alphabet Company 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.