GFS Advisors LLC Invests $6.74 Million in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

GFS Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 38,019 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $6,744,000.

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

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GOOG opened at $246.19 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $228.96 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $191.00. 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 $2.98 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.22, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.00. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $142.66 and a 1 year high of $256.70.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $93.67 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.89 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 8th were issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 8th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.95%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOG has been the subject of several analyst reports. BNP Paribas downgraded Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Alphabet from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Alphabet from $270.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Roth Capital restated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $241.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,816 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.42, for a total transaction of $4,408,034.72. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 42,985 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,635,348.70. This represents a 29.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 953 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $241.20, for a total transaction of $229,863.60. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 17,294 shares in the company, valued at $4,171,312.80. The trade was a 5.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 243,838 shares of company stock valued at $53,070,333 in the last quarter. Corporate 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.