Centaurus Financial Inc. Raises Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Centaurus Financial Inc. increased its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 72,625 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,366 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for 0.8% of Centaurus Financial Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest position. Centaurus Financial Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $12,142,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 9,200.0% during the second quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 186 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 2nd quarter worth $37,000. HWG Holdings LP purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 2nd quarter worth $40,000. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 87.3% in the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. now owns 251 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Slocum Gordon & Co LLP purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 2nd quarter worth about $44,000. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.44, for a total value of $109,420.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 32,017 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,136,807.48. This represents a 2.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 441 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director now owns 16,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,820,779.40. This represents a 2.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 206,795 shares of company stock valued at $34,673,866 over the last 90 days. 12.99% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on GOOG shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $182.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $212.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $200.56.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ GOOG opened at $166.57 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.04 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.09, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.04. 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 one year low of $129.40 and a one year high of $193.31. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $169.10 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $171.86.

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. As a group, analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.61%.

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.