Beacon Financial Advisory LLC Reduces Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Beacon Financial Advisory LLC cut its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 14.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,493 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 605 shares during the period. Beacon Financial Advisory LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $620,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOG has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Saturday, September 27th. Citizens Jmp upgraded shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $230.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. Finally, Phillip Securities lowered shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 8th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.33.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total value of $4,637,754.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 42,999 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,371,905.30. The trade was a 35.65% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total transaction of $3,448,820.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 243,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,213,984. The trade was a 7.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 276,738 shares of company stock valued at $59,135,475 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.7%

NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $247.13 on Wednesday. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $142.66 and a one year high of $256.70. 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 firm has a market cap of $2.99 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.00. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $224.07 and a 200-day simple moving average of $188.32.

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

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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

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.