Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC Boosts Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 503,023 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 10,784 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises 1.1% of Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $92,264,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in GOOG. Park Avenue Securities LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 11.9% during the first quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 109,878 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $16,730,000 after acquiring an additional 11,646 shares during the last quarter. Investment Partners LTD. raised its holdings in Alphabet by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. Investment Partners LTD. now owns 7,446 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,049,000 after buying an additional 410 shares during the period. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Alphabet by 47.9% in the fourth quarter. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 50,333 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $7,094,000 after buying an additional 16,295 shares during the last quarter. Apexium Financial LP boosted its stake in Alphabet by 335.9% during the fourth quarter. Apexium Financial LP now owns 53,823 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $7,586,000 after buying an additional 41,476 shares during the period. Finally, Oak Ridge Investments LLC increased its position in Alphabet by 4.6% during the first quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC now owns 187,229 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $28,508,000 after acquiring an additional 8,201 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on GOOG shares. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Wolfe Research raised Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Alphabet from $154.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities lowered Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $181.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Friday, June 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $182.86.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Prabhakar Raghavan sold 3,262 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.99, for a total value of $600,175.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 9 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,655.91. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, SVP Prabhakar Raghavan sold 3,262 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.99, for a total transaction of $600,175.38. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 9 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,655.91. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,258,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $391,132,665.42. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 144,108 shares of company stock worth $25,464,954. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ GOOG traded up $1.58 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $165.53. The stock had a trading volume of 3,977,798 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,449,320. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $121.46 and a 52-week high of $193.31. The firm has a market cap of $2.05 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.05. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $178.39 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $163.59. The company has a current ratio of 2.08, a quick ratio of 2.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued 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 business had revenue of $84.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $84.22 billion. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.44 EPS. Analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 9th will be given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 9th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.48%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is presently 12.27%.

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.