DF Dent & Co. Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

DF Dent & Co. Inc. reduced its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 2.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 22,833 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 590 shares during the period. DF Dent & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $3,787,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 75.0% during the second quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 140 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. LMR Partners LLP bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Kings Path Partners LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet during the 2nd quarter valued at $36,000. Denver PWM LLC bought a new position in Alphabet in the 2nd quarter valued at $41,000. Finally, Quarry LP purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the second quarter worth $53,000. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.22, for a total value of $291,330.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 23,324 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,529,987.28. This trade represents a 6.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.63, for a total transaction of $3,614,175.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,114,885 shares in the company, valued at approximately $339,713,977.55. This trade represents a 1.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 198,623 shares of company stock valued at $34,413,006 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GOOGL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Truist Financial raised their price target 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. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $204.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. China Renaissance raised shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $217.00 price objective (up previously from $215.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Roth Mkm lifted their target price on Alphabet from $206.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have given a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $206.08.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $189.82 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $171.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $170.63. The stock has a market cap of $2.32 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.01. 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 Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $129.68 and a fifty-two week high of $195.61.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (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 business had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $72.85 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.55 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.42%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 10.61%.

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.