R Squared Ltd Purchases New Shares in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 2,160 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $337,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 111.8% during the 1st quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 161 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 1st quarter valued at $26,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 1st quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at $53,000. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Down 1.5%

Shares of NASDAQ GOOG opened at $189.95 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $142.66 and a 12 month high of $208.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.31 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.23, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.02. The business has a 50-day moving average of $179.37 and a 200-day moving average of $174.53.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.67 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%. Alphabet’s revenue was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.89 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 8th will be given a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is presently 8.95%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on GOOG. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $210.00 price target (up previously from $185.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Pivotal Research increased their price target on Alphabet from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Rosenblatt Securities upgraded Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Barclays reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $215.19.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.98, for a total value of $72,792.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 6,013 shares in the company, valued at $1,094,245.74. The trade was a 6.24% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total value of $3,448,820.16. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 243,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $45,213,984. The trade was a 7.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 249,399 shares of company stock worth $43,525,794 in the last quarter. 12.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.