ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. Acquires 20,798 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 4.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 483,518 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 20,798 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for about 3.2% of ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest holding. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $85,771,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. ACT Advisors LLC. raised its holdings in Alphabet by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter. ACT Advisors LLC. now owns 1,625 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $288,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. LongView Wealth Management raised its stake in Alphabet by 1.1% in the second quarter. LongView Wealth Management now owns 5,126 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $909,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Kooman & Associates lifted its position in Alphabet by 1.4% during the second quarter. Kooman & Associates now owns 4,127 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $732,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the period. Colton Groome Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 3.4% during the second quarter. Colton Groome Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,742 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $309,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the period. Finally, Brueske Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 2.7% during the second quarter. Brueske Advisory Services LLC now owns 2,194 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $389,000 after buying an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Mizuho upgraded shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Citizens Jmp raised shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Phillip Securities downgraded shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 8th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.33.

Alphabet Stock Up 2.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $251.51 on Tuesday. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $142.66 and a 52-week high of $256.70. The company has a market capitalization of $3.04 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 1.90. The company has a fifty day moving average of $223.05 and a 200-day moving average of $187.91.

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

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 8th were issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 8th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 8.95%.

Insider Activity

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.38, for a total value of $5,992,350.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,527,392 shares in the company, valued at approximately $466,000,536.96. This represents a 1.27% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 $45,213,984. The trade was a 7.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 276,738 shares of company stock valued at $59,135,475 over the last quarter. 12.99% of the stock is owned by company 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.