World Investment Advisors LLC Acquires 1,159,308 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

World Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 2,496.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,205,752 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,159,308 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up approximately 1.1% of World Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest position. World Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $199,974,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc grew its position in Alphabet by 75.0% during the 2nd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 140 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. LMR Partners LLP bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. Kings Path Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the second quarter worth $36,000. Denver PWM LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Finally, Quarry LP acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the 2nd quarter worth $53,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,802 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.47, for a total transaction of $2,780,226.94. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 43,999 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,280,514.53. This trade represents a 27.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of Alphabet 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now 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 have sold a total of 198,623 shares of company stock worth $34,413,006 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on GOOGL. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $206.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. China Renaissance raised shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. KeyCorp lifted 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Alphabet from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note 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 MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $206.08.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.1 %

NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $189.82 on Monday. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $129.68 and a one year high of $195.61. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $171.63 and a 200-day simple moving average of $170.63. The firm has a market cap of $2.32 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.18, a PEG ratio of 1.39 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.

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, 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 business posted $1.55 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.