Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 25.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,049,980 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 215,469 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises approximately 1.0% of Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest position. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $159,156,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Virtus Investment Advisers Inc. boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 13.2% in the 3rd quarter. Virtus Investment Advisers Inc. now owns 4,960 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $823,000 after purchasing an additional 580 shares in the last quarter. Voyager Global Management LP raised its stake in Alphabet by 55.9% during the third quarter. Voyager Global Management LP now owns 2,650,000 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $439,502,000 after buying an additional 950,000 shares during the last quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 26.5% in the third quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 1,069,065 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $177,304,000 after acquiring an additional 223,890 shares in the last quarter. Wahed Invest LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 8.5% in the third quarter. Wahed Invest LLC now owns 142,094 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $23,566,000 after acquiring an additional 11,167 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wallace Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 7.8% during the third quarter. Wallace Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,277 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $543,000 after acquiring an additional 237 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.22, for a total value of $291,330.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 23,324 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,529,987.28. The trade was a 6.04 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 represents a 1.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 198,623 shares of company stock valued at $34,413,006. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of GOOGL stock opened at $189.82 on Monday. 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 fifty day simple moving average of $171.63 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $170.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.32 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.18, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $129.68 and a 52-week high of $195.61.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released 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. 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 analysts’ expectations of $72.85 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.55 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 10.61%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on GOOGL shares. Pivotal Research upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $182.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Roth Mkm raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $206.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Phillip Securities raised Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Loop Capital lifted their target price on Alphabet from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.