Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC Trims Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC decreased its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 8.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 87,000 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 7,860 shares during the period. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $14,429,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Shepherd Financial Partners LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 1.2% in the third quarter. Shepherd Financial Partners LLC now owns 31,055 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $5,150,000 after buying an additional 374 shares during the last quarter. Fonville Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 24.6% during the third quarter. Fonville Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,994 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $828,000 after acquiring an additional 986 shares in the last quarter. W Advisors LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 15.4% during the third quarter. W Advisors LLC now owns 5,940 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $985,000 after acquiring an additional 794 shares in the last quarter. Sitrin Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 0.3% in the third quarter. Sitrin Capital Management LLC now owns 39,370 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $6,530,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the period. Finally, Silver Coast Investments LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 33.1% in the third quarter. Silver Coast Investments LLC now owns 3,070 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $509,000 after purchasing an additional 764 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Down 1.8 %

GOOGL traded down $3.30 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $175.58. 30,994,235 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 27,120,920. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.15 trillion, a PE ratio of 23.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.03. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $127.90 and a 1 year high of $191.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a current ratio of 1.95. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $164.82 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $170.04.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 period in the previous year, the business posted $1.55 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.99 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is presently 10.61%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on GOOGL. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $204.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Guggenheim boosted 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. BMO Capital Markets reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $217.00 target price (up from $215.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Alphabet from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $205.90.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Frances Arnold sold 441 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now owns 16,490 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,820,779.40. The trade was a 2.60 % 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 the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 682 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.44, for a total value of $109,420.08. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 32,017 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,136,807.48. The trade was a 2.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 207,495 shares of company stock worth $34,586,641 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company's stock.

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.