Haverford Financial Services Inc. Increases Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Haverford Financial Services Inc. increased its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 25.2% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 48,168 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,704 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for 2.3% of Haverford Financial Services Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. Haverford Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $7,989,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 43,005.6% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 18,743,594 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $31,086,250,000 after acquiring an additional 18,700,111 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 587.4% during the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 10,690,326 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,772,991,000 after purchasing an additional 9,135,056 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in Alphabet by 14.4% during the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 57,803,291 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $8,724,251,000 after purchasing an additional 7,275,757 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 116.4% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 8,670,225 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,437,957,000 after buying an additional 4,662,809 shares during the period. Finally, Wulff Hansen & CO. grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 18,810.2% in the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 4,434,260 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $807,700,000 after buying an additional 4,410,811 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.66, for a total transaction of $3,772,350.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,159,885 shares in the company, valued at approximately $362,126,319.10. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.41, for a total transaction of $1,862,805.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 319,966 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $56,765,168.06. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.66, for a total transaction of $3,772,350.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,159,885 shares in the company, valued at $362,126,319.10. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 207,495 shares of company stock valued at $34,586,641 over the last 90 days. 11.55% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on GOOGL. JMP Securities upped their target price on Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on Alphabet from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Phillip Securities raised shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Seven equities research 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $205.90.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $178.88 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $164.37 and a 200 day moving average of $169.98. The company has a market cap of $2.19 trillion, a PE ratio of 23.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 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 current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $88.27 billion during 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 quarter last year, the business posted $1.55 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.99 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.