Prospera Financial Services Inc Grows Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Prospera Financial Services Inc boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 12.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 122,923 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,998 shares during the period. Prospera Financial Services Inc’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $20,555,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in Alphabet by 360.1% during the 1st quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 20,249 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,083,000 after purchasing an additional 15,848 shares in the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 5.8% in the 1st quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 32,706 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $4,980,000 after purchasing an additional 1,798 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 19.0% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 86,040 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $13,100,000 after purchasing an additional 13,756 shares in the last quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 50.0% in the first quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 330 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vaughan David Investments LLC IL boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 43.6% in the 1st quarter. Vaughan David Investments LLC IL now owns 7,803 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,188,000 after acquiring an additional 2,371 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays lifted their target price on Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Alphabet from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, Scotiabank assumed coverage on Alphabet in a research note on Friday, October 11th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $212.00 target price for the company. Five equities research 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $200.56.

Alphabet Stock Performance

GOOG opened at $176.80 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The business’s 50 day moving average is $167.56 and its 200-day moving average is $171.80. The stock has a market cap of $2.16 trillion, a PE ratio of 23.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.04. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $129.40 and a twelve month high of $193.31.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $86.39 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.55 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 10.61%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 21,467 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.35, for a total transaction of $3,442,233.45. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 39,334 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,307,206.90. This trade represents a 35.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 441 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.06, for a total value of $75,437.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,490 shares in the company, valued at $2,820,779.40. This represents a 2.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 206,795 shares of company stock worth $34,471,141. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet 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.