Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Purchased by Eagle Asset Management Inc.

Eagle Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 15.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 198,560 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 26,009 shares during the period. Eagle Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $35,413,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.5% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 49,472,478 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $9,011,412,000 after purchasing an additional 238,403 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Alphabet by 1.4% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 37,233,079 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $6,175,106,000 after purchasing an additional 523,416 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 23,465,190 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $4,274,184,000 after buying an additional 418,204 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 9.1% in the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 23,263,385 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $4,237,426,000 after buying an additional 1,949,476 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 43,005.6% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 18,743,594 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $31,086,250,000 after buying an additional 18,700,111 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Performance

GOOGL opened at $172.64 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $2.11 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.90, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.01. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $169.30 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $170.31. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $129.68 and a 1-year high of $191.75. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. The company had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $72.85 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.55 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.46%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is presently 10.61%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.67, for a total value of $3,975,075.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,061,806 shares in the company, valued at approximately $364,259,266.02. This trade represents a 1.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,835 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.53, for a total value of $429,587.55. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 29,182 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,421,948.46. The trade was a 8.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 163,624 shares of company stock valued at $27,803,730 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GOOGL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. JMP Securities lifted their target price on Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating 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. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $205.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. KeyCorp boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Roth Mkm increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $206.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have given a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $205.90.

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.