Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. Purchases 49,358 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 3.5% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 1,446,302 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 49,358 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up about 5.1% of Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S.’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $239,869,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 3.6% during the second quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,620 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $295,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the period. Hengehold Capital Management LLC increased its position in Alphabet by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Hengehold Capital Management LLC now owns 7,224 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,316,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc raised 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 worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. First PREMIER Bank lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 1,655 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $275,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the period. Finally, Cutler Investment Counsel LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.7% during the third quarter. Cutler Investment Counsel LLC now owns 3,663 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $607,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.63, for a total value of $3,614,175.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,114,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $339,713,977.55. This trade represents a 1.05 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.84, for a total transaction of $230,804.28. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 29,183 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,927,257.72. This trade represents a 4.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 160,789 shares of company stock valued at $27,374,143. Insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on GOOGL shares. KeyCorp upped their target price on Alphabet from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company increased 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. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $217.00 to $208.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $205.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have assigned a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $205.90.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $175.37 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $2.15 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a current ratio of 1.95. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $169.70 and a 200-day moving average price of $170.21. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $129.68 and a one year 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 for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. The business had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $72.85 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.55 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be issued 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 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.