Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Purchased by Ascent Wealth Partners LLC

Ascent Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 32.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 80,785 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 19,944 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up about 1.9% of Ascent Wealth Partners LLC's holdings, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $13,398,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in GOOGL. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc grew its stake in Alphabet by 75.0% in the second quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 140 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Kings Path Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 2nd quarter worth $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 stake in shares of Alphabet in the 2nd quarter valued at about $53,000. Finally, Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet during the 2nd quarter worth about $55,000. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 682 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.44, for a total value of $109,420.08. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 32,017 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 441 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.06, for a total transaction of $75,437.46. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 16,490 shares in the company, valued at $2,820,779.40. The trade was a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 184,295 shares of company stock worth $30,698,791 in the last three months. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Down 5.5 %

NASDAQ GOOGL traded down $9.69 on Thursday, reaching $166.29. The stock had a trading volume of 44,843,836 shares, compared to its average volume of 27,140,447. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $167.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $170.40. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $127.90 and a 1 year 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 company has a market capitalization of $2.04 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.03.

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

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 10.61%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on GOOGL. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $206.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Alphabet from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Roth Mkm increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $206.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Alphabet to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Tigress Financial increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Seven investment 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $205.90.

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.