Pacific Wealth Strategies Group Inc. Increases Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Pacific Wealth Strategies Group Inc. raised its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 0.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 27,261 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 93 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for approximately 3.1% of Pacific Wealth Strategies Group Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Pacific Wealth Strategies Group Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $4,216,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Argent Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 36.6% in the 1st quarter. Argent Advisors Inc. now owns 14,102 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,181,000 after purchasing an additional 3,778 shares in the last quarter. Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. now owns 22,713 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,512,000 after purchasing an additional 413 shares in the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 3.7% in the 1st quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 19,493 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,014,000 after purchasing an additional 693 shares in the last quarter. Kendall Capital Management lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 3.1% in the 1st quarter. Kendall Capital Management now owns 19,165 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,964,000 after purchasing an additional 570 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 13.8% in the 1st quarter. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 7,349 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,136,000 after purchasing an additional 891 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on Alphabet from $225.00 to $192.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on Alphabet from $235.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 31st. Susquehanna reduced their price target on Alphabet from $225.00 to $220.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 25th. BNP Paribas lowered Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Wedbush set a $190.00 price target on Alphabet and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $199.95.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.52, for a total transaction of $5,801,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,559,892 shares in the company, valued at approximately $456,991,919.84. The trade was a 1.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 9,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $1,575,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 255,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,695,000. This represents a 3.40% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 215,643 shares of company stock worth $36,330,928 in the last quarter. 11.64% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $179.08 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.17 trillion, a P/E ratio of 19.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $168.70 and a 200 day simple moving average of $173.87. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $140.53 and a 12-month high of $207.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. The firm had revenue of $76.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 30.86% and a return on equity of 34.54%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.89 EPS. Research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th were given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This is a boost from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 9th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.47%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 9.36%.

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.