Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Stock Position Lifted by Benjamin Edwards Inc.

Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 323.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 154,060 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 117,636 shares during the quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $25,557,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 2.5% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 49,857,900 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $8,268,933,000 after buying an additional 1,237,385 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in Alphabet by 0.5% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 49,472,478 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $9,011,412,000 after buying an additional 238,403 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Alphabet by 1.4% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 37,233,079 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $6,175,106,000 after buying an additional 523,416 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in Alphabet by 1.8% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 23,465,190 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $4,274,184,000 after buying an additional 418,204 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 9.1% in the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 23,263,385 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $4,237,426,000 after purchasing an additional 1,949,476 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,802 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.47, for a total value of $2,780,226.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 43,999 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,280,514.53. This represents a 27.63 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 37,134 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.02, for a total value of $6,870,532.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 282,832 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $52,329,576.64. The trade was a 11.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 197,123 shares of company stock valued at $34,121,676 over the last quarter. 11.55% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Stock Down 1.8 %

GOOGL stock opened at $191.96 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $129.68 and a twelve month high of $195.61. The company has a quick ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The company has a market cap of $2.35 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.01. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $170.66 and its 200 day simple moving average is $170.46.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $72.85 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.55 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.42%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 10.61%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on GOOGL. Robert W. Baird reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $205.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday. China Renaissance upgraded Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Bank of America increased their price target on Alphabet from $206.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. JMP Securities increased their price target on Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have assigned a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $206.08.

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.