Lafayette Investments Inc. Trims Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Lafayette Investments Inc. decreased its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 0.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 70,579 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 74 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for about 2.5% of Lafayette Investments Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest position. Lafayette Investments Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $11,800,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 7.0% in the third quarter. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC now owns 1,823 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $305,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the period. Grimes & Company Inc. raised its stake in Alphabet by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Grimes & Company Inc. now owns 71,485 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $11,952,000 after buying an additional 436 shares during the period. Harvey Investment Co. LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 2.9% during the third quarter. Harvey Investment Co. LLC now owns 108,221 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $18,093,000 after acquiring an additional 3,085 shares in the last quarter. PSI Advisors LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 4.0% in the third quarter. PSI Advisors LLC now owns 3,126 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $523,000 after acquiring an additional 121 shares during the period. Finally, Global Assets Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter worth about $237,000. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Rosenblatt Securities lowered Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $181.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Pivotal Research initiated coverage on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $215.00 price objective for the company. Scotiabank started coverage on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, October 11th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $212.00 price objective on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, DA Davidson upgraded Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $186.90.

Alphabet Stock Up 1.5 %

NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $166.99 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.06 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a quick ratio of 2.08, a current ratio of 2.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $121.46 and a twelve month high of $193.31. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $163.31 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $169.88.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.04. Alphabet had a net margin of 26.70% and a return on equity of 30.49%. The firm had revenue of $84.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $84.22 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.44 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.00, for a total transaction of $114,576.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 31,334 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,264,112. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.35, for a total transaction of $3,652,875.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,182,385 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $354,310,204.75. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.00, for a total transaction of $114,576.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 31,334 shares in the company, valued at $5,264,112. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 220,426 shares of company stock valued at $35,993,340. 12.99% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Company 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.