Ascent Group LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Ascent Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 7.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 112,363 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,087 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises approximately 1.4% of Ascent Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Ascent Group LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $18,635,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 43,005.6% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 18,743,594 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $31,086,250,000 after purchasing an additional 18,700,111 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 587.4% during the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 10,690,326 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,772,991,000 after purchasing an additional 9,135,056 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 116.4% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 8,670,225 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,437,957,000 after purchasing an additional 4,662,809 shares during the period. Wulff Hansen & CO. boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 18,810.2% during the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 4,434,260 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $807,700,000 after purchasing an additional 4,410,811 shares during the period. Finally, PineStone Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 143.7% during the second quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,072,197 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,288,201,000 after purchasing an additional 4,170,229 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 700 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.00, for a total transaction of $115,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 27,824 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,590,960. The trade was a 2.45 % 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 Alphabet 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 directly owns 2,114,885 shares in the company, valued at approximately $339,713,977.55. The trade was a 1.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 197,123 shares of company stock valued at $34,121,676. Insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $191.96 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.35 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.46, a PEG 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’s 50-day simple moving average is $170.66 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $170.46. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $129.68 and a 52-week high of $195.61.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. The business had revenue of $88.27 billion for 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 period last year, the firm posted $1.55 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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 given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.42%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 10.61%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Tigress Financial raised their price target on Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Truist Financial raised their price target on Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on Alphabet from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Seaport Res Ptn raised Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Alphabet from $204.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $206.08.

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.