NorthRock Partners LLC Decreases Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

NorthRock Partners LLC lowered its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 11.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 53,982 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 7,258 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up about 0.8% of NorthRock Partners LLC's holdings, making the stock its 21st largest holding. NorthRock Partners LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $8,953,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 70.6% in the first quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 101,230 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $15,279,000 after purchasing an additional 41,880 shares during the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 3.6% in the first quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 31,171 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $4,705,000 after purchasing an additional 1,072 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 12.3% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 187,840 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $28,351,000 after purchasing an additional 20,572 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 8.9% in the first quarter. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. now owns 13,732 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,073,000 after purchasing an additional 1,127 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 510.4% in the first quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 12,282 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,854,000 after purchasing an additional 10,270 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.41, for a total value of $1,862,805.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 319,966 shares in the company, valued at $56,765,168.06. The trade was a 3.18 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.36, for a total value of $3,990,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,084,306 shares in the company, valued at $369,672,512.16. This trade represents a 1.07 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 206,795 shares of company stock worth $34,471,141. Corporate insiders own 11.55% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on GOOGL. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Alphabet from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Roth Mkm raised 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 reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $205.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Guggenheim raised their target price on Alphabet from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, China Renaissance raised Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have assigned a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $205.90.

Alphabet Stock Up 1.6 %

NASDAQ GOOGL traded up $2.82 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $178.12. 23,402,831 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 27,097,613. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $166.74 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $170.36. 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 $127.90 and a 1 year high of $191.75. The stock has a market cap of $2.18 trillion, a P/E ratio of 23.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. The business had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $72.85 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.55 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 0.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 10.61%.

Alphabet Company 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.