Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 44.0% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 6,725 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,055 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for about 0.6% of Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 26th biggest holding. Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,115,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GOOGL. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 75.0% in the 2nd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 140 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Kings Path Partners LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet in the 2nd quarter valued at $36,000. Denver PWM LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet in the 2nd quarter valued at $41,000. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 59.2% in the 1st quarter. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. now owns 293 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP purchased a new position in Alphabet in the 2nd quarter valued at $53,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $169.74 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $162.59 and a 200-day simple moving average of $169.31. The company has a market cap of $2.09 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.51, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.03. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $127.90 and a one year high of $191.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a current ratio of 1.95.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $72.85 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.55 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 10.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Frances Arnold sold 441 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.06, for a total transaction of $75,437.46. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 16,490 shares in the company, valued at $2,820,779.40. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director Frances Arnold sold 441 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.06, for a total transaction of $75,437.46. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 16,490 shares in the company, valued at $2,820,779.40. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.44, for a total value of $109,420.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 32,017 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,136,807.48. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 209,552 shares of company stock worth $34,433,848 over the last 90 days. 11.55% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on GOOGL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Alphabet from $200.00 to $208.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Alphabet from $190.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on Alphabet from $217.00 to $208.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 14th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $217.00 price target (up previously from $215.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $210.00 price target (up previously from $200.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $205.51.

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.