Guinness Atkinson Asset Management Inc Purchases 256 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Guinness Atkinson Asset Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 11.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,560 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 256 shares during the quarter. Guinness Atkinson Asset Management Inc’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $428,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Richardson Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 9,200.0% during the 2nd quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 186 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 2nd quarter valued at $37,000. HWG Holdings LP acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the second quarter valued at $40,000. Finally, Slocum Gordon & Co LLP bought a new position in Alphabet in the second quarter valued at about $44,000. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.8 %

Alphabet stock traded up $1.34 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $164.52. 10,945,971 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 19,793,420. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $121.46 and a 52-week high of $193.31. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $162.81 and its 200-day moving average price is $169.13. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $2.03 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.04.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $84.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $84.22 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 30.49% and a net margin of 26.70%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.44 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 9th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 9th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is presently 11.48%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.00, for a total value of $114,576.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 31,334 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,264,112. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 700 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.00, for a total transaction of $115,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 29,324 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,838,460. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.00, for a total transaction of $114,576.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 31,334 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,264,112. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 216,092 shares of company stock worth $35,644,136 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on GOOG shares. Scotiabank started coverage on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $212.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Alphabet from $204.00 to $187.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Pivotal Research began coverage on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $215.00 price objective for the company. Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered their target price on Alphabet from $210.00 to $185.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $186.90.

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.