Confluence Wealth Services Inc. Acquires 2,332 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Confluence Wealth Services Inc. raised its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 13.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 19,968 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,332 shares during the quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $3,040,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,065,000. Private Trust Co. NA lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 8.9% in the 3rd quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 45,311 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $5,974,000 after purchasing an additional 3,713 shares during the period. Wagner Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 8.8% in the 3rd quarter. Wagner Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,730 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $756,000 after purchasing an additional 462 shares during the period. Strategic Blueprint LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 6.6% in the 3rd quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC now owns 11,024 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,453,000 after purchasing an additional 679 shares during the period. Finally, Marion Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $445,000. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Down 1.9 %

NASDAQ:GOOG traded down $3.26 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $164.64. 29,398,761 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 22,876,967. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $150.09 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $143.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.05 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.05. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $104.50 and a 1 year high of $176.42. The company has a current ratio of 2.15, a quick ratio of 2.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.38. The business had revenue of $80.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $78.75 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 29.52% and a net margin of 25.90%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.17 EPS. Analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 6.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a — dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 10th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 10th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 2,100 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.76, for a total value of $369,096.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 5,891 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,035,402.16. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $157.41, for a total value of $3,541,725.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,303,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $362,516,961.51. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 2,100 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.76, for a total value of $369,096.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 5,891 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,035,402.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 253,289 shares of company stock valued at $36,724,534. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on GOOG shares. Raymond James raised their target price on Alphabet from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $172.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $154.00 to $174.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $165.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $165.67.

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.