Eastover Investment Advisors LLC Has $8.59 Million Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Eastover Investment Advisors LLC reduced its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 8.7% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 51,404 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 4,893 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up about 4.0% of Eastover Investment Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest position. Eastover Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $8,594,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of GOOG. Richardson Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 9,200.0% in the second quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 186 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the second quarter worth $37,000. HWG Holdings LP purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the second quarter worth $40,000. Finally, Slocum Gordon & Co LLP purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the second quarter worth $44,000. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of GOOG stock opened at $164.39 on Tuesday. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $121.46 and a 1-year high of $193.31. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $163.53 and its 200 day moving average is $168.91. The company has a market cap of $2.03 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.21, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 2.08 and a quick ratio of 2.08.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $84.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $84.22 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 30.49% and a net margin of 26.70%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.44 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Investors of record on Monday, September 9th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 12.27%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on GOOG. DA Davidson upgraded Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. TD Cowen raised their price target on Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Pivotal Research initiated coverage on Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $215.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group cut their price target on Alphabet from $204.00 to $187.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $184.11.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.84, for a total transaction of $230,804.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 29,183 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,927,257.72. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.84, for a total transaction of $230,804.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 29,183 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,927,257.72. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.07, for a total value of $3,759,075.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,129,306 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $355,743,153.42. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 217,592 shares of company stock valued at $35,922,911 over the last quarter. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.