Empirical Finance LLC Increases Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Empirical Finance LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 213,673 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 4,522 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up approximately 2.1% of Empirical Finance LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Empirical Finance LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $35,438,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc boosted its position in Alphabet by 75.0% during the second quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 140 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Kings Path Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 2nd quarter valued at $36,000. Denver PWM LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 2nd quarter valued at $41,000. Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 2nd quarter valued at $53,000. Finally, Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 2nd quarter valued at $55,000. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on GOOGL shares. China Renaissance raised shares of Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $210.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $204.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $217.00 to $208.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating and set a $205.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have given a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $205.90.

Alphabet Stock Down 0.2 %

GOOGL traded down $0.28 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $168.95. 14,257,244 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 27,161,824. The company has a market cap of $2.07 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.03. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $168.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $170.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.95. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $127.90 and a one year high of $191.75.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $72.85 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.55 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. Alphabet's payout ratio is presently 10.61%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,137,385 shares in the company, valued at $339,160,251.80. This represents a 1.04 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 682 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.44, for a total transaction of $109,420.08. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 32,017 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,136,807.48. The trade was a 2.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. 11.55% 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.