Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Position Boosted by Brown Lisle Cummings Inc.

Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. increased its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 2.7% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 52,406 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,400 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for 2.5% of Brown Lisle Cummings Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $9,236,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in Alphabet by 242.9% in the 1st quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 168 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. IMA Advisory Services Inc. bought a new stake in Alphabet in the 1st quarter worth $28,000. von Borstel & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in Alphabet in the 1st quarter worth $28,000. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 85.7% in the 1st quarter. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC now owns 195 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Alphabet in the 1st quarter worth $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $244.90 on Thursday. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $140.53 and a 1 year high of $256.00. The stock has a market cap of $2.96 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.00. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $219.14 and a 200 day moving average of $184.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.90.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.15 by $0.16. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. The company had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $93.60 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 8th were given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 8th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.95%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Westpark Capital raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Roth Capital lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. Mizuho set a $295.00 target price on shares of Alphabet and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $201.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, September 24th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-two have given a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $237.10.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.38, for a total transaction of $5,992,350.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,527,392 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $466,000,536.96. This trade represents a 1.27% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total transaction of $3,448,820.16. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 243,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $45,213,984. This trade represents a 7.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 243,285 shares of company stock valued at $50,994,787. Insiders own 11.64% of the company’s stock.

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.