Independence Bank of Kentucky Buys 1,640 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Independence Bank of Kentucky boosted its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 22.6% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 8,911 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,640 shares during the quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,634,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Partnership Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Pacific Capital Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the second quarter valued at $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

NASDAQ GOOG traded up $1.94 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $167.43. The stock had a trading volume of 14,281,621 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,309,939. The company has a quick ratio of 2.08, a current ratio of 2.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $176.34 and a 200 day simple moving average of $164.64. The company has a market cap of $2.07 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.05. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $121.46 and a 52-week high of $193.31.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.04. Alphabet had a return on equity of 30.49% and a net margin of 26.70%. The business had revenue of $84.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $84.22 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.44 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 13.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 9th will be given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.27%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.86, for a total value of $118,572.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 29,966 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,209,888.76. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.86, for a total transaction of $118,572.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 29,966 shares in the company, valued at $5,209,888.76. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.58, for a total value of $3,973,050.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,235,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $394,746,532.38. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 179,065 shares of company stock valued at $31,025,543. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GOOG has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wolfe Research upgraded Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. TD Cowen raised their target price on Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities cut Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $181.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Friday, June 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $182.86.

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.