Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Acquired by Centaurus Financial Inc.

Centaurus Financial Inc. increased its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 22.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 61,540 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,481 shares during the quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $10,206,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. CWM LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 11.9% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 892,834 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $162,630,000 after buying an additional 94,669 shares in the last quarter. Svenska Handelsbanken AB publ acquired a new position in Alphabet during the second quarter worth $29,931,000. Thomasville National Bank lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 2.7% in the second quarter. Thomasville National Bank now owns 8,479 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,544,000 after acquiring an additional 220 shares during the period. Bennett Selby Investments LP purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 2nd quarter worth $237,000. Finally, Renaissance Investment Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Investment Group LLC now owns 99,078 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $18,724,000 after purchasing an additional 555 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of GOOGL stock opened at $174.71 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $129.68 and a fifty-two week high of $191.75. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $169.51 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $170.24. The stock has a market cap of $2.14 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 business posted $1.55 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 10.61%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GOOGL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $205.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Alphabet from $204.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. KeyCorp raised their price objective on Alphabet from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $217.00 target price (up from $215.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have given a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $205.90.

Insider Activity

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.41, for a total value of $232,950.47. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 23,515 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,007,191.15. This trade represents a 5.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,114,885 shares in the company, valued at $339,713,977.55. This represents a 1.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 163,624 shares of company stock worth $27,803,730. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet 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.