Advisor Resource Council Makes New $1.74 Million Investment in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Advisor Resource Council purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 10,510 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,743,000. Alphabet makes up about 0.8% of Advisor Resource Council’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest position.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Graypoint LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.7% during the third quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 63,311 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $10,500,000 after buying an additional 436 shares during the last quarter. Blake Schutter Theil Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Alphabet during the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,288,000. M&G PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 11.8% during the 3rd quarter. M&G PLC now owns 2,354,516 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $390,850,000 after acquiring an additional 248,660 shares during the last quarter. Two Point Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.8% in the third quarter. Two Point Capital Management Inc. now owns 95,255 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $15,974,000 after acquiring an additional 725 shares during the period. Finally, Dechtman Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 6.0% in the third quarter. Dechtman Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,588 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $595,000 after acquiring an additional 204 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 21,467 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.35, for a total value of $3,442,233.45. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 39,334 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,307,206.90. The trade was a 35.31 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.68, for a total transaction of $3,570,300.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,137,385 shares in the company, valued at approximately $339,160,251.80. This trade represents a 1.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 184,295 shares of company stock valued at $30,698,791 in the last ninety days. 11.55% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on GOOGL. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Mizuho raised their price target on Alphabet from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $182.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Alphabet from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on Alphabet from $217.00 to $208.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $205.90.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $178.12 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $166.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $170.36. The company has a quick ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.18 trillion, a P/E ratio of 23.62, a PEG ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.03. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $127.90 and a 52 week high of $191.75.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. The business had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $72.85 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.55 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th will be given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 10.61%.

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.