Benson Investment Management Company Inc. Grows Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Benson Investment Management Company Inc. grew its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 16.9% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 59,455 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,594 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for approximately 3.9% of Benson Investment Management Company Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Benson Investment Management Company Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $9,053,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Compton Wealth Advisory Group LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 17.7% in the first quarter. Compton Wealth Advisory Group LLC now owns 8,920 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,358,000 after acquiring an additional 1,340 shares during the period. Birch Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.9% during the first quarter. Birch Capital Management LLC now owns 30,519 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $4,647,000 after buying an additional 258 shares during the last quarter. RDA Financial Network lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 35.9% during the first quarter. RDA Financial Network now owns 6,298 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $959,000 after buying an additional 1,665 shares during the last quarter. Radnor Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 48.6% during the first quarter. Radnor Capital Management LLC now owns 12,600 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,918,000 after buying an additional 4,120 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cooper Financial Group lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 5.5% during the first quarter. Cooper Financial Group now owns 22,775 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,468,000 after buying an additional 1,179 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ:GOOG traded up $2.55 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $180.26. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 59,728,019 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,706,858. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $115.83 and a fifty-two week high of $182.51. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $171.61 and its 200-day moving average is $154.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 2.15 and a quick ratio of 2.15. The firm has a market cap of $2.23 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.38. Alphabet had a net margin of 25.90% and a return on equity of 29.52%. The company had revenue of $80.54 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $78.75 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.17 EPS. Alphabet’s quarterly revenue was up 15.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a — dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Investors of record on Monday, June 10th were issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.27%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 12,084 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.19, for a total value of $1,826,979.96. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 48,717 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,365,523.23. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 12,084 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.19, for a total value of $1,826,979.96. Following the sale, the insider now owns 48,717 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,365,523.23. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.79, for a total value of $105,566.78. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 29,284 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,532,870.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 135,958 shares of company stock worth $22,383,553. 12.99% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GOOG has been the subject of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $165.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $172.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $154.00 to $174.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $165.67.

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.