Algert Global LLC Buys Shares of 37,230 Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Algert Global LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund bought 37,230 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $6,224,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 9.1% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 15,424,324 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,578,793,000 after acquiring an additional 1,291,274 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 4.5% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 14,657,421 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,688,743,000 after acquiring an additional 636,008 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 12,327,458 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,261,103,000 after acquiring an additional 282,121 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 11,024,276 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,843,149,000 after acquiring an additional 264,962 shares during the period. Finally, National Pension Service lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 14.0% during the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 9,903,537 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,655,772,000 after acquiring an additional 1,218,671 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on GOOG. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $212.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, Pivotal Research raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $200.56.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.6 %

GOOG opened at $166.57 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.04 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.04. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $169.10 and its 200-day moving average is $171.86. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $129.40 and a 52-week high of $193.31. The company has a quick ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. The business had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $86.39 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.55 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 21,467 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.35, for a total value of $3,442,233.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 39,334 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,307,206.90. The trade was a 35.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.68, for a total transaction of $3,570,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,137,385 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $339,160,251.80. This represents a 1.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 206,795 shares of company stock valued at $34,673,866. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.