Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. Reduces Stake in Alphabet Inc. Shares

Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. has decreased its investment in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 3.0% during the second quarter, according to the latest 13F filing submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission. After selling 264 shares this quarter, the institutional investor now holds a total of 8,588 shares in the information services giant, with a total value of $1,564,000 at the time of the filing.

Other institutional investors have also made adjustments to their holdings in Alphabet recently. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC increased its position by 3.6% during the same quarter, bringing its ownership to 1,620 shares valued at $295,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares. Hengehold Capital Management LLC raised its stake by 0.8%, owning 7,224 shares worth $1,316,000 following a purchase of 60 shares. Notably, Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc. boosted its investment by 75.0%, acquiring 140 shares valued at around $26,000. Joseph P. Lucia & Associates LLC similarly increased its holdings by 1.0%, now owning 6,624 shares worth $1,000,000 after purchasing an extra 64 shares. Sunflower Bank N.A. also increased its position by 1.0%, holding 6,309 shares valued at $1,149,000 after adding 65 shares. In total, institutional investors and hedge funds control 40.03% of Alphabet's shares.

Insider Trading Activity

In addition to institutional investment changes, there has been notable insider trading at Alphabet. CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares on October 1st at an average price of $168.84, totaling $230,804.28. Following this transaction, O’toole holds 29,183 shares, valued at approximately $4,927,257.72, indicating a minimal change in ownership. Another significant transaction was carried out by senior vice president Prabhakar Raghavan, who sold 34,257 shares on August 15th for $5,570,188.20 at an average price of $162.60. After this sale, Raghavan’s holdings decreased slightly to 312,210 shares valued at around $50,765,346. In total, insider actions in the past ninety days included the sale of 216,092 shares, generating $35,644,136; insiders currently own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Adjustments

Recently, various analysts have updated their ratings and target prices for Alphabet. Argus increased its target price from $200.00 to $215.00 while maintaining a “buy” rating. Wolfe Research began its coverage, assigning an “outperform” rating with a target of $240.00. UBS Group raised its target from $200.00 to $204.00, also giving a “neutral” rating. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating with a target price of $196.00. Citigroup improved its price target from $190.00 to $212.00, maintaining a “buy” rating as well. The stock has received eight hold ratings, twenty-eight buy ratings, and three strong buy ratings, resulting in a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” with an average target price of $200.95 according to MarketBeat.com.

Current Trading Status

As for market performance, shares of GOOGL opened at $163.24 on a recent Friday. The company boasts a market capitalization of $2.01 trillion, a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 23.42, and a price-to-earnings-growth (PEG) ratio of 1.21, with a beta of 1.04. Alphabet exhibits a low debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04 and maintains satisfaction with both a quick and current ratio of 2.08. The stock has fluctuated between a one-year low of $120.21 and a high of $191.75, with a 50-day moving average of $161.37 and a 200-day moving average of $167.63.

Recent Earnings and Dividend Announcement

Alphabet last released its earnings report on July 23rd, where it reported earnings per share (EPS) of $1.89, surpassing analysts’ estimates of $1.85 by $0.04. The company achieved a net margin of 26.70% and a return on equity of 30.49%, with revenue reaching $84.74 billion compared to forecasted estimates of $70.60 billion. Analysts anticipate that Alphabet will end the current year with an EPS of 7.64.

Moreover, Alphabet declared a quarterly dividend, which was distributed on September 16th. Investors on record as of September 9th received a dividend of $0.20 per share, indicating a yearly total of $0.80 and a yield of 0.49%. The payout ratio stands at 11.48%.

Company Overview

Alphabet Inc. operates a wide array of products and services across the globe, categorized into three main segments: Google Services, Google Cloud, and Other Bets. The Google Services division offers numerous products including ads, Android, Chrome, Gmail, Google Drive, Google Maps, and YouTube among others.

Alphabet, Shares, Investors