Baker Avenue Asset Management LP Increases Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Baker Avenue Asset Management LP boosted its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 1.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 213,098 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,094 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up approximately 1.1% of Baker Avenue Asset Management LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $35,342,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of GOOGL. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 75.0% in the second quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 140 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the period. Kings Path Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the second quarter worth $36,000. Denver PWM LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the second quarter valued at $41,000. Quarry LP purchased a new position in Alphabet in the second quarter valued at $53,000. Finally, Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the second quarter worth about $55,000. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $164.76 on Monday. 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 $2.02 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.03. The business has a 50-day moving average of $167.64 and a 200 day moving average of $170.36. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $127.90 and a 12 month high of $191.75.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $72.85 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.55 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.01 earnings per share for the current 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.61%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Frances Arnold sold 441 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.06, for a total value of $75,437.46. Following the transaction, the director now owns 16,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,820,779.40. This represents a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.44, for a total value of $109,420.08. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 32,017 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,136,807.48. This trade represents a 2.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 206,795 shares of company stock worth $34,673,866. Corporate insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on GOOGL. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Alphabet from $182.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Alphabet from $204.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on Alphabet from $217.00 to $208.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 14th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $205.90.

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.