Ames National Corp Increases Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Ames National Corp increased its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 1.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 10,925 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises 1.1% of Ames National Corp’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. Ames National Corp’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,707,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOG. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 39.3% during the 4th quarter. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,964 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $945,000 after acquiring an additional 1,400 shares during the last quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 10.2% during the 1st quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 14,907 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,329,000 after acquiring an additional 1,376 shares during the last quarter. Harvest Investment Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Harvest Investment Services LLC now owns 4,329 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $824,000 after acquiring an additional 138 shares during the last quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC now owns 9,771 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,527,000 after acquiring an additional 259 shares during the last quarter. Finally, jvl associates llc boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 3.5% during the 1st quarter. jvl associates llc now owns 10,055 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,571,000 after acquiring an additional 343 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total value of $2,786,400.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 240,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,656,704. This represents a 5.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.98, for a total value of $72,792.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 6,013 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,094,245.74. This represents a 6.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 249,409 shares of company stock valued at $43,523,710 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on GOOG. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 price target (up previously from $200.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Citigroup restated a “sell” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on Alphabet from $186.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $209.44.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOG opened at $192.11 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a current ratio of 1.77. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $142.66 and a 52-week high of $208.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.33 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.01. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $174.02 and its 200-day moving average price is $174.50.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. The company had revenue of $90.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.54% and a net margin of 30.86%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.89 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet 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.