Weiss Asset Management LP Buys Shares of 144,642 Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Weiss Asset Management LP purchased a new position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 144,642 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $23,989,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GOOGL. Schear Investment Advisers LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 17.0% in the 3rd quarter. Schear Investment Advisers LLC now owns 33,751 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $5,598,000 after acquiring an additional 4,905 shares during the last quarter. Trinity Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 4.5% in the third quarter. Trinity Financial Advisors LLC now owns 4,423 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $771,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. lifted its position in Alphabet by 27.9% during the third quarter. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 25,275 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $4,192,000 after buying an additional 5,516 shares in the last quarter. abrdn plc boosted its stake in Alphabet by 10.7% during the third quarter. abrdn plc now owns 6,305,717 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,037,196,000 after buying an additional 611,233 shares during the last quarter. Finally, StoneCrest Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in Alphabet by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. StoneCrest Wealth Management Inc. now owns 21,509 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,567,000 after buying an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on GOOGL shares. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Alphabet from $204.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Alphabet from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $205.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have assigned a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $206.08.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.22, for a total value of $291,330.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 23,324 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,529,987.28. The trade was a 6.04 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $339,713,977.55. This represents a 1.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 198,623 shares of company stock valued at $34,413,006 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $189.82 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $171.63 and a two-hundred day moving average of $170.67. The company has a market capitalization of $2.32 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $129.68 and a 1 year high of $195.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.95.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. The firm had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $72.85 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.55 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company 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. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.