GDS Wealth Management Buys 3,354 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

GDS Wealth Management increased its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 3.0% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 114,056 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,354 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for 1.8% of GDS Wealth Management’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest holding. GDS Wealth Management’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $18,916,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of GOOGL. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in Alphabet by 14.4% during 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 buying an additional 7,275,757 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased 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 acquiring an additional 238,403 shares during the period. Capital World Investors raised its position in Alphabet by 1.7% during the 1st 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 in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 418,204 shares during the period. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 9.1% in the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 23,263,385 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $4,237,426,000 after purchasing an additional 1,949,476 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $167.65 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a current ratio of 1.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.05 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.03. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $127.90 and a fifty-two week high of $191.75. The company has a fifty day moving average of $167.83 and a two-hundred day moving average of $170.34.

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

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.48%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 10.61%.

Insider Activity

In related 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 330,466 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $59,741,643.48. This represents a 3.08 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 441 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $2,820,779.40. This trade represents a 2.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 206,795 shares of company stock worth $34,673,866 over the last quarter. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on GOOGL. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Alphabet from $204.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Pivotal Research lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. KeyCorp increased their target price 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. Scotiabank raised shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Roth Mkm increased their price objective on Alphabet from $206.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seven investment 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $205.90.

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.