Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC Increases Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 13.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 76,276 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 8,964 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises approximately 0.8% of Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest holding. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $9,130,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Modera Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 11.4% during the first quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC now owns 43,230 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $4,484,000 after buying an additional 4,420 shares during the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 7.4% in the first quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 316,800 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $32,918,000 after purchasing an additional 21,907 shares during the last quarter. Cadent Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 3.4% in the second quarter. Cadent Capital Advisors LLC now owns 4,158 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $498,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Hallmark Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 8.9% in the first quarter. Hallmark Capital Management Inc. now owns 167,148 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $17,338,000 after purchasing an additional 13,605 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Soltis Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 17.1% in the first quarter. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC now owns 46,675 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $4,842,000 after purchasing an additional 6,825 shares during the last quarter. 35.08% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Alphabet stock opened at $135.31 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $133.44 and a 200-day simple moving average of $127.65. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $84.86 and a 1-year high of $141.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 2.04 and a quick ratio of 2.01. The stock has a market cap of $1.69 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 24th. The information services provider reported $1.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.45 by $0.10. Alphabet had a net margin of 22.46% and a return on equity of 25.24%. The business had revenue of $64.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $63.13 billion. On average, analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 5.74 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on GOOGL. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $142.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 4th. Loop Capital upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 18th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $130.00 to $153.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 26th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $155.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, October 25th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $150.00 to $165.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 26th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $147.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Prabhakar Raghavan sold 16,083 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $133.82, for a total value of $2,152,227.06. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 75,621 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,119,602.22. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.30, for a total transaction of $27,460.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 7,584 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,041,283.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Prabhakar Raghavan sold 16,083 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $133.82, for a total transaction of $2,152,227.06. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 75,621 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,119,602.22. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 176,576 shares of company stock valued at $23,425,367 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

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, hardware, Gmail, Google Drive, Google Maps, Google Photos, Google Play, Search, and YouTube.