Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. Trims Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. lessened its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 26.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 82,280 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 29,667 shares during the period. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $13,646,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 75.0% during the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. Kings Path Partners LLC bought a new position in Alphabet in the second quarter valued at $36,000. Denver PWM LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the second quarter valued at about $41,000. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. lifted its stake in Alphabet by 59.2% during the first quarter. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. now owns 293 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 2nd quarter worth about $53,000. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.44, for a total value of $109,420.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 32,017 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,136,807.48. This trade represents a 2.09 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 441 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.06, for a total value of $75,437.46. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,490 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,820,779.40. The trade was a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 206,795 shares of company stock valued at $34,471,141 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on GOOGL. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $217.00 price objective (up from $215.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $210.00 price target (up from $200.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $190.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $208.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have assigned a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $205.90.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOGL opened at $175.58 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The company has a market cap of $2.15 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.03. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $164.82 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $170.04. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $127.90 and a 12-month high of $191.75.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $72.85 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.55 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 10.61%.

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.