Delta Financial Group Inc. Increases Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Delta Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 27,708 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 158 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up about 1.7% of Delta Financial Group Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest position. Delta Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $4,632,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 9.3% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 87,716,562 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $13,355,724,000 after acquiring an additional 7,470,042 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Alphabet by 19.7% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 84,171,721 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $12,815,986,000 after purchasing an additional 13,876,534 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in Alphabet by 2.2% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 45,731,826 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $6,963,128,000 after purchasing an additional 979,083 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in Alphabet by 2.0% in the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 35,558,778 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $5,414,179,000 after purchasing an additional 684,968 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 4.5% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 14,657,421 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,688,743,000 after purchasing an additional 636,008 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on GOOG shares. DA Davidson upgraded shares of Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Oppenheimer cut their target price on Alphabet from $210.00 to $185.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. TD Cowen upped their target price on Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Pivotal Research initiated coverage on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday. They set a “buy” rating and a $215.00 price target for the company. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $183.75.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.00, for a total transaction of $114,576.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 31,334 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,264,112. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.00, for a total value of $114,576.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 31,334 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,264,112. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.85, for a total transaction of $278,775.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 30,824 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,728,640.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 217,592 shares of company stock valued at $35,922,911. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

Alphabet stock opened at $167.21 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $163.53 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $168.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.07 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.65, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 2.08 and a current ratio of 2.08. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $121.46 and a 52-week high of $193.31.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $84.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $84.22 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 26.70% and a return on equity of 30.49%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.44 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 9th were issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 9th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.48%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 12.27%.

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.