Principal Securities Inc. Purchases 4,120 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Principal Securities Inc. increased its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 4.3% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 99,755 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,120 shares during the quarter. Principal Securities Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $16,678,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 9,200.0% in 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 during the last quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet in the 2nd quarter worth about $37,000. HWG Holdings LP purchased a new position in Alphabet in the 2nd quarter worth about $40,000. Slocum Gordon & Co LLP purchased a new position in Alphabet in the 2nd quarter worth about $44,000. Finally, Hoese & Co LLP raised its position in Alphabet by 62.5% in the 2nd quarter. Hoese & Co LLP now owns 260 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Down 0.0 %

Shares of GOOG opened at $172.65 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.13 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.04. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $128.11 and a 1 year high of $193.31. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $163.81 and its 200-day simple moving average is $170.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 2.08.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. The business had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $86.39 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.55 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.46%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.61%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.44, for a total transaction of $109,420.08. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 32,017 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,136,807.48. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.44, for a total transaction of $109,420.08. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 32,017 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,136,807.48. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 21,467 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.35, for a total value of $3,442,233.45. Following the sale, the insider now owns 39,334 shares in the company, valued at $6,307,206.90. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 230,244 shares of company stock valued at $37,776,954 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GOOG has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wolfe Research raised Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $187.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $212.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, TD Cowen raised their target price on Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $200.56.

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.