Centaurus Financial Inc. Has $16.85 Million Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOG

Centaurus Financial Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 3.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 95,003 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 3,573 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up approximately 1.0% of Centaurus Financial Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest position. Centaurus Financial Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $16,853,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in GOOG. Prospera Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet during the second quarter worth $421,000. Lavaca Capital LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter. Lavaca Capital LLC now owns 15,680 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,781,000 after buying an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. Stark Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 2nd quarter worth about $527,000. Tribridge Partners Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 2nd quarter valued at about $225,000. Finally, Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 4.8% in the second quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC now owns 291,713 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $51,747,000 after acquiring an additional 13,429 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on GOOG shares. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $340.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Loop Capital raised Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 18th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. Pivotal Research restated a “buy” rating and set a $400.00 target price (up from $350.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, December 5th. Finally, Mizuho set a $325.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have issued a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $313.04.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 954 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $317.00, for a total value of $302,418.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 11,740 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,721,580. This represents a 7.52% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.06, for a total transaction of $168,036.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 4,516 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,264,750.96. This represents a 11.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 225,528 shares of company stock worth $61,296,884. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GOOG opened at $310.52 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The company has a market capitalization of $3.75 trillion, a P/E ratio of 30.62, a P/E/G ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.07. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $142.66 and a 12 month high of $328.67. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $283.75 and a 200-day moving average of $230.73.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The information services provider reported $2.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.29 by $0.58. Alphabet had a return on equity of 35.00% and a net margin of 32.23%.The business had revenue of $102.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $99.90 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.12 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 8th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.28%.

Alphabet Profile

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.