Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Holdings Lessened by Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.

Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 0.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,443,583 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 5,190 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises 4.6% of Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $239,418,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 70.6% during the 1st quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 101,230 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $15,279,000 after buying an additional 41,880 shares in the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 3.6% during the 1st quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 31,171 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $4,705,000 after acquiring an additional 1,072 shares during the period. Tyro Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet during the 1st quarter worth approximately $8,026,000. Tremblant Capital Group lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 76.1% during the first quarter. Tremblant Capital Group now owns 9,415 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,421,000 after purchasing an additional 4,068 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kestra Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 9.3% in the first quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 533,158 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $80,470,000 after purchasing an additional 45,361 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on GOOGL. JMP Securities raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Loop Capital raised their price target on Alphabet from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Roth Mkm upped their price objective on Alphabet from $206.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Alphabet from $204.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Pivotal Research boosted their price target on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seven equities 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $205.90.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOGL stock opened at $169.23 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $2.07 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.03. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $127.90 and a 12 month high of $191.75. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $168.36 and a 200 day moving average price of $170.33. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

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

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm 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 $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.47%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 10.61%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.67, for a total transaction of $3,975,075.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,061,806 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $364,259,266.02. This trade represents a 1.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 441 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.06, for a total transaction of $75,437.46. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 16,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,820,779.40. This represents a 2.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 206,795 shares of company stock worth $34,673,866. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.