Prospera Financial Services Inc Purchases 27,026 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Prospera Financial Services Inc lifted its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 19.3% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 167,262 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 27,026 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for 0.7% of Prospera Financial Services Inc’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest holding. Prospera Financial Services Inc’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $27,746,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 75.0% during the 2nd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 140 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. LMR Partners LLP bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Kings Path Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the second quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Denver PWM LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the second quarter worth approximately $41,000. Finally, Quarry LP bought a new position in Alphabet during the 2nd quarter worth $53,000. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.68, for a total value of $3,570,300.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,137,385 shares in the company, valued at $339,160,251.80. The trade was a 1.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.41, for a total value of $232,950.47. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 23,515 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,007,191.15. The trade was a 5.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 186,124 shares of company stock valued at $31,374,030. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Alphabet Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $171.49 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $2.10 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.03. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $127.90 and a 12-month high of $191.75. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $168.47 and a 200 day simple moving average of $170.31. The company has a quick ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. The company had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $72.85 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.55 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.47%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 10.61%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $210.00 target price (up from $200.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Scotiabank raised shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. China Renaissance upgraded shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $217.00 target price (up from $215.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Tigress Financial upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Seven investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $205.90.

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.