Cozad Asset Management Inc. Raises Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Cozad Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 18,248 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 464 shares during the quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $3,051,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC boosted 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 worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the second quarter valued at approximately $37,000. HWG Holdings LP bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $40,000. Slocum Gordon & Co LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $44,000. Finally, Hoese & Co LLP grew its stake in shares of 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 Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $182.28 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.24 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.04. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $164.24 and its 200-day moving average price is $170.89. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $129.40 and a twelve month high of $193.31.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share 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 net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. The company’s revenue was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.55 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.97 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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 0.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 10.61%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, SVP Prabhakar Raghavan sold 34,257 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.60, for a total value of $5,570,188.20. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 312,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $50,765,346. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Alphabet news, SVP Prabhakar Raghavan sold 34,257 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.60, for a total value of $5,570,188.20. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 312,210 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,765,346. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.03, for a total value of $130,424.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 30,024 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,894,812.72. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 242,552 shares of company stock valued at $40,287,253 over the last quarter. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on GOOG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Alphabet from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Pivotal Research upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Phillip Securities upgraded shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, Citigroup raised 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, October 30th. Five investment 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $200.56.

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.