Essex Financial Services Inc. Sells 9,456 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Essex Financial Services Inc. cut its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 7.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 111,535 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 9,456 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises approximately 0.9% of Essex Financial Services Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 17th largest holding. Essex Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $18,419,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of GOOGL. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 497,874,324 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $75,144,172,000 after acquiring an additional 4,064,073 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in Alphabet by 14.4% in the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 57,803,291 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $8,724,251,000 after purchasing an additional 7,275,757 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of 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 worth $9,011,412,000 after purchasing an additional 238,403 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.7% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 35,412,299 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $5,344,778,000 after purchasing an additional 597,756 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.8% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 23,465,190 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $4,274,184,000 after purchasing an additional 418,204 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Up 2.4 %

Alphabet stock opened at $180.75 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.95. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $162.86 and a 200-day simple moving average of $169.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.23 trillion, a PE ratio of 23.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.03. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $127.90 and a 12 month high of $191.75.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $72.85 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.55 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.44%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 10.61%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,835 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.53, for a total transaction of $429,587.55. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 29,182 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,421,948.46. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.78, for a total value of $1,898,190.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 330,466 shares in the company, valued at approximately $59,741,643.48. 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 is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,835 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.53, for a total value of $429,587.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 29,182 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,421,948.46. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 242,552 shares of company stock valued at $40,287,253 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on GOOGL shares. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $190.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Wolfe Research began coverage on Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $240.00 target price for the company. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Alphabet from $204.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $205.90.

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.