Pathway Financial Advisers LLC Invests $557,000 in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Pathway Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 3,656 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $557,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,101,040,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 19.7% during the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 84,171,721 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $12,815,986,000 after purchasing an additional 13,876,534 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in Alphabet in the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,378,708,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at about $11,600,970,000. Finally, Capital International Investors grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 9.3% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 87,716,562 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $13,355,724,000 after buying an additional 7,470,042 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

NASDAQ GOOG traded down $4.05 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $168.40. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 18,907,773 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,999,430. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $121.46 and a fifty-two week high of $193.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 2.08 and a current ratio of 2.08. The company’s 50-day moving average is $179.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is $162.74. The stock has a market cap of $2.07 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.83, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.04. Alphabet had a return on equity of 30.49% and a net margin of 26.70%. The firm had revenue of $84.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $84.22 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.44 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.62 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 3.07%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.08, for a total transaction of $252,120.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 4,391 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $738,039.28. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.22, for a total transaction of $3,897,450.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,258,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $391,132,665.42. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.08, for a total transaction of $252,120.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4,391 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $738,039.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 122,308 shares of company stock worth $21,933,775. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on GOOG shares. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Alphabet from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $165.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $154.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $182.86.

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.