Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. NY Boosts Stake in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. NY lifted its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 163,345 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,156 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for approximately 2.9% of Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. NY’s holdings, making the stock its 12th largest position. Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. NY’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $28,976,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 580,897.4% in the 2nd quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 135,087,705 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $23,963,208,000 after buying an additional 135,064,454 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the 1st quarter worth $2,622,943,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Alphabet by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 411,570,922 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $64,299,725,000 after buying an additional 9,687,855 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Alphabet by 9.9% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 102,232,997 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $15,971,861,000 after buying an additional 9,243,959 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strs Ohio purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the 1st quarter worth $369,713,000. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.9%

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $237.49 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $2.87 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.29, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.00. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $226.97 and a 200-day moving average price of $189.81. 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 Inc. has a twelve month low of $142.66 and a twelve month high of $256.70.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.67 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.89 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 8th were issued a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.95%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total value of $4,637,754.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 42,999 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,371,905.30. This trade represents a 35.65% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.38, for a total transaction of $5,992,350.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,527,392 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $466,000,536.96. The trade was a 1.27% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 276,738 shares of company stock valued at $59,135,475. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Roth Capital reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $210.00 price target (up previously from $185.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Alphabet from $230.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price objective on Alphabet from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have assigned a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $241.00.

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.