Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Stock Holdings Lessened by Wedgewood Partners Inc.

Wedgewood Partners Inc. lowered its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 1.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 257,523 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 3,332 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up approximately 8.6% of Wedgewood Partners Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Wedgewood Partners Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $46,066,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Alphabet by 0.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 222,555,548 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $36,910,838,000 after buying an additional 743,369 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.5% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 49,857,900 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $8,268,933,000 after acquiring an additional 1,237,385 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.5% in the 2nd 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 acquiring an additional 238,403 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 37,233,079 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $6,175,106,000 after acquiring an additional 523,416 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in Alphabet by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 23,465,190 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $4,274,184,000 after purchasing an additional 418,204 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.1 %

Alphabet stock opened at $189.82 on Monday. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $129.68 and a 12-month high of $195.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.32 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.01. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $171.63 and a 200-day simple moving average of $170.63.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 firm 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 posted $1.55 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.61%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on GOOGL shares. Loop Capital boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $190.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $217.00 price objective (up previously from $215.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Pivotal Research upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, China Renaissance raised shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Seven equities research 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $206.08.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,802 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.47, for a total value of $2,780,226.94. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 43,999 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,280,514.53. This trade represents a 27.63 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.84, for a total transaction of $230,804.28. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 29,183 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,927,257.72. This 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 198,623 shares of company stock valued at $34,413,006. 11.55% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.