MSA Advisors LLC Sells 28,700 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

MSA Advisors LLC decreased its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 24.6% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 87,865 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 28,700 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises 3.8% of MSA Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 9th largest holding. MSA Advisors LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $14,690,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of GOOG. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Alphabet by 360.1% during the first quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 20,249 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,083,000 after buying an additional 15,848 shares in the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 5.8% in the 1st quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 32,706 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $4,980,000 after acquiring an additional 1,798 shares in the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 27.1% in the 1st quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 10,645 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,621,000 after purchasing an additional 2,269 shares during the last quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 6.7% during the first quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 79,975 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $12,177,000 after purchasing an additional 5,026 shares during the period. Finally, Incline Global Management LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 76.6% during the first quarter. Incline Global Management LLC now owns 96,418 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $14,681,000 after purchasing an additional 41,836 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $166.57 on Monday. 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’s fifty day moving average price is $169.10 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $171.87. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $129.40 and a fifty-two week high of $193.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.04 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.04.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $86.39 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.55 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm 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 dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.48%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is 10.61%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GOOG has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective 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. Barclays increased their target price on Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $200.56.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 330,466 shares in the company, valued at approximately $59,741,643.48. This trade represents a 3.08 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 21,467 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.35, for a total value of $3,442,233.45. Following the sale, the insider now owns 39,334 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,307,206.90. The trade was a 35.31 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 206,795 shares of company stock valued at $34,673,866. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.