Palisade Asset Management LLC Boosts Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Palisade Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,553 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 681 shares during the period. Palisade Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,750,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc raised 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 buying an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. LMR Partners LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter worth $32,000. Kings Path Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the second quarter worth $36,000. Denver PWM LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet during the second quarter valued at $41,000. Finally, Quarry LP purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the second quarter valued at $53,000. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,835 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.53, for a total transaction of $429,587.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 29,182 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,421,948.46. This trade represents a 8.85 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,114,885 shares in the company, valued at approximately $339,713,977.55. The trade was a 1.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 163,624 shares of company stock worth $27,803,730 over the last three months. Insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. DA Davidson initiated coverage on Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $170.00 price objective for the company. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $217.00 price target (up from $215.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Roth Mkm increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $206.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of Alphabet from $217.00 to $208.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Seven equities research 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 MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $205.90.

Alphabet Trading Up 1.2 %

GOOGL opened at $174.71 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.14 trillion, a PE ratio of 23.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $129.68 and a one year high of $191.75. 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 business’s 50 day moving average price is $169.30 and its 200 day moving average price is $170.31.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. The business had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $72.85 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.55 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.