Alphabet Inc. $GOOG is Wernau Asset Management Inc.’s 3rd Largest Position

Wernau Asset Management Inc. lowered its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 20.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 24,224 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 6,171 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises approximately 3.0% of Wernau Asset Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Wernau Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $4,297,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOG. IFS Advisors LLC lifted 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 purchasing an additional 120 shares during the period. Robbins Farley raised its holdings in Alphabet by 60.0% in the second quarter. Robbins Farley now owns 160 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. WestEnd Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 58.7% in the second quarter. WestEnd Advisors LLC now owns 165 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Fairman Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 121.3% during the second quarter. Fairman Group LLC now owns 177 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at about $32,000. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Trading Up 3.0%

Alphabet stock opened at $301.71 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $260.83 and a 200 day moving average price of $212.43. The company has a market capitalization of $3.64 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.05. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $142.66 and a 52 week high of $304.25. The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The information services provider reported $2.87 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.29 by $0.58. The business had revenue of $102.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $99.90 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 32.23% and a return on equity of 36.08%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.12 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 8th will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 8th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 8.28%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Alphabet from $210.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. Raymond James Financial set a $275.00 price target on Alphabet and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $285.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $285.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 22nd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have given a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $324.81.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,778 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.26, for a total transaction of $800,786.28. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 11,739 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,383,884.14. This trade represents a 19.14% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 112 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $291.80, for a total value of $32,681.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 18,004 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,253,567.20. This trade represents a 0.62% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 195,452 shares of company stock valued at $49,255,209 in the last three months. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

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.