Geneos Wealth Management Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 20.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 74,363 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 12,420 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $11,499,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 242.9% during the 1st quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 168 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. IMA Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. von Borstel & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 85.7% during the 1st quarter. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC now owns 195 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the period. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Alphabet during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $39,000. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GOOGL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their target price on Alphabet from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Alphabet from $184.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $270.00 price target (up previously from $235.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $200.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $185.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-two have issued a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $221.44.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $239.63 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $2.90 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.01. 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 business’s 50 day moving average price is $198.22 and its 200-day moving average price is $176.17. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $140.53 and a fifty-two week high of $240.47.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $93.60 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%. Sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 8th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.95%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.92, for a total transaction of $6,497,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,462,392 shares in the company, valued at approximately $492,281,408.64. This represents a 1.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $200,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 6,916 shares in the company, valued at $1,383,200. The trade was a 12.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 254,710 shares of company stock valued at $49,208,380. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.