Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Position Raised by Pittenger & Anderson Inc.

Pittenger & Anderson Inc. raised its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 2.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 239,344 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 5,780 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up about 1.5% of Pittenger & Anderson Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Pittenger & Anderson Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $39,695,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Alphabet by 0.8% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 497,874,324 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $75,144,172,000 after purchasing an additional 4,064,073 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in shares of 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 worth $8,724,251,000 after acquiring an additional 7,275,757 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.5% during the 2nd 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 boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 35,412,299 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $5,344,778,000 after acquiring an additional 597,756 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.8% during the 2nd 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. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Roth Mkm lifted their target price on Alphabet from $206.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $205.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. China Renaissance upgraded Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Alphabet from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on Alphabet from $206.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $205.90.

Alphabet Stock Up 1.6 %

GOOGL stock traded up $2.81 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $175.30. The company's stock had a trading volume of 19,429,254 shares, compared to its average volume of 27,110,707. The company has a market cap of $2.15 trillion, a PE ratio of 23.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 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. The firm's 50-day moving average is $165.61 and its 200-day moving average is $170.22.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 analysts' expectations of $72.85 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.55 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.46%. Alphabet's payout ratio is presently 10.61%.

Insider Activity

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 682 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.44, for a total value of $109,420.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 32,017 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,136,807.48. This trade represents a 2.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.68, for a total transaction of $3,570,300.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,137,385 shares of the company's stock, valued at $339,160,251.80. This represents a 1.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 206,795 shares of company stock worth $34,471,141 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 11.55% of the company's stock.

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.