Hilltop Holdings Inc. Acquires 28,423 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Hilltop Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 59.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 76,087 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 28,423 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for approximately 0.8% of Hilltop Holdings Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Hilltop Holdings Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $12,619,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Lantz Financial LLC increased its position in Alphabet by 10.8% during the second quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 4,622 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $842,000 after acquiring an additional 452 shares during the last quarter. RFG Advisory LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 27.7% during the 2nd quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 67,487 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $12,293,000 after purchasing an additional 14,647 shares during the period. Realta Investment Advisors grew its holdings in Alphabet by 5.7% during the 2nd quarter. Realta Investment Advisors now owns 31,879 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $5,807,000 after purchasing an additional 1,730 shares during the last quarter. Granite Bay Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 6,410.2% in the 2nd quarter. Granite Bay Wealth Management LLC now owns 109,566 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $18,488,000 after purchasing an additional 107,883 shares during the period. Finally, Northwest Investment Counselors LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 3.5% in the second quarter. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC now owns 17,595 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,205,000 after purchasing an additional 590 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Down 1.1 %

Alphabet stock opened at $189.82 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $171.63 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $170.71. 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 company has a market cap of $2.32 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.18, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $129.68 and a fifty-two week high of $195.61.

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

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. 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 0.42%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 10.61%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $205.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on Alphabet from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $217.00 target price (up from $215.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $182.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Phillip Securities upgraded shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $206.08.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 29,183 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,927,257.72. This trade represents a 4.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.63, for a total value of $3,614,175.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,114,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $339,713,977.55. The trade was a 1.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 198,623 shares of company stock valued at $34,413,006 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

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.