BSW Wealth Partners Lowers Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

BSW Wealth Partners cut its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 4.3% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 28,457 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 1,270 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up approximately 0.7% of BSW Wealth Partners’ investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest position. BSW Wealth Partners’ holdings in Alphabet were worth $5,048,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 120,253 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $22,901,000 after buying an additional 6,410 shares during the period. Revisor Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 107.9% during the 1st quarter. Revisor Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,659 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $572,000 after acquiring an additional 1,899 shares in the last quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 16.5% during the 1st quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC now owns 9,452 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,477,000 after acquiring an additional 1,339 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 73.0% during the 1st quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 34,978 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $5,465,000 after acquiring an additional 14,757 shares during the period. Finally, AMI Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Alphabet by 2.2% in the 1st quarter. AMI Investment Management Inc. now owns 46,458 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $7,258,000 after acquiring an additional 991 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on GOOG. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 22nd. Barclays reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Raymond James Financial restated 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. UBS Group upped their price objective on Alphabet from $186.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Alphabet from $230.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.33.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total transaction of $4,637,754.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 42,999 shares in the company, valued at $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 available through the SEC website. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 18,566 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.76, for a total transaction of $3,448,820.16. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 243,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $45,213,984. This trade represents a 7.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 276,738 shares of company stock valued at $59,135,475 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.0%

NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $246.45 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $142.66 and a 1 year high of $256.70. The stock has a market cap of $2.98 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.00. 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 stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $221.89 and a 200-day simple moving average of $187.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.67 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.89 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 8th were issued a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 8th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.95%.

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.