Austin Asset Management Co Inc Grows Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Austin Asset Management Co Inc boosted its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 11.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,767 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 286 shares during the quarter. Austin Asset Management Co Inc’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $491,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. IFS Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 400.0% in the 2nd quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the period. Robbins Farley boosted its stake in Alphabet by 60.0% during the second quarter. Robbins Farley now owns 160 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. WestEnd Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 58.7% during the second quarter. WestEnd Advisors LLC now owns 165 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Finally, Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the first quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on GOOG shares. UBS Group set a $255.00 price objective on Alphabet and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. Roth Capital reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Alphabet from $232.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Phillip Securities cut shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 8th. Finally, Citizens Jmp upgraded shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have issued a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $241.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.44, for a total transaction of $149,664.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 5,716 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,425,799.04. This represents a 9.50% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 953 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.20, for a total value of $229,863.60. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 17,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,171,312.80. This trade represents a 5.22% 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 ninety days. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.9%

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $237.49 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $2.87 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.29, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.00. 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 Inc. has a 1 year low of $142.66 and a 1 year high of $256.70. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $226.97 and its 200-day moving average price is $189.81.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its earnings results 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.67 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.89 EPS. Alphabet’s revenue was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 8th were paid a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 8.95%.

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.