Bard Financial Services Inc. Cuts Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Bard Financial Services Inc. lessened its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 12.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 45,395 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 6,650 shares during the quarter. Bard Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $7,590,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Investment Advisory Services Inc. TX ADV increased its position in Alphabet by 1.6% in the second quarter. Investment Advisory Services Inc. TX ADV now owns 3,636 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $667,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the period. Advisors Management Group Inc. ADV increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.0% during the second quarter. Advisors Management Group Inc. ADV now owns 2,944 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $540,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. Montecito Bank & Trust increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.4% during the second quarter. Montecito Bank & Trust now owns 16,790 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,080,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. Sunburst Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.1% during the third quarter. Sunburst Financial Group LLC now owns 2,959 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $495,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. Finally, Johnson Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.6% during the third quarter. Johnson Financial Group LLC now owns 2,360 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $395,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

GOOG opened at $186.40 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $2.28 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $131.06 and a 1 year high of $193.31. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $171.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $171.73.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. The business had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $86.39 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.55 earnings per share. Alphabet’s quarterly revenue was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.02 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.61%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOG has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price target on Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Alphabet from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. DA Davidson raised Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Phillip Securities raised Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn raised Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $200.56.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.84, for a total transaction of $230,804.28. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 29,183 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,927,257.72. This represents a 4.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,802 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.47, for a total value of $2,780,226.94. Following the sale, the insider now owns 43,999 shares in the company, valued at $7,280,514.53. The trade was a 27.63 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 197,923 shares of company stock worth $34,244,676 over the last three months. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

About Alphabet

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.