Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Holdings Lifted by World Investment Advisors LLC

World Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 290.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 181,209 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 134,765 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for 0.7% of World Investment Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest position. World Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $30,054,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in GOOGL. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc raised its holdings in Alphabet by 75.0% in the 2nd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 140 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. LMR Partners LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter valued at $32,000. Kings Path Partners LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet in the second quarter valued at $36,000. Denver PWM LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet during the second quarter worth about $41,000. Finally, Quarry LP acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the 2nd quarter worth about $53,000. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 1,367 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.84, for a total value of $230,804.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 29,183 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,927,257.72. This represents a 4.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 700 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.00, for a total value of $115,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 27,824 shares in the company, valued at $4,590,960. This trade represents a 2.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 178,957 shares of company stock valued at $31,358,687 over the last three months. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on GOOGL shares. Tigress Financial upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $210.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $210.00 price target (up previously from $200.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Scotiabank upgraded Alphabet to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on Alphabet from $206.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $206.69.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL traded up $2.90 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $191.41. The company's stock had a trading volume of 62,585,809 shares, compared to its average volume of 27,725,063. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a current ratio of 1.95. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $130.66 and a 1-year high of $201.42. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $173.99 and its 200-day moving average price is $171.21. The firm has a market cap of $2.34 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) 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. The company had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $72.85 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.55 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th were given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is presently 10.61%.

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.