Smith Salley Wealth Management Has $11.56 Million Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Smith Salley Wealth Management increased its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 9.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 69,670 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 5,870 shares during the quarter. Smith Salley Wealth Management's holdings in Alphabet were worth $11,555,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. New Hampshire Trust grew its holdings in Alphabet by 2.7% during the second quarter. New Hampshire Trust now owns 43,714 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $7,963,000 after acquiring an additional 1,132 shares during the period. Berkshire Money Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 1st quarter worth approximately $359,000. Schneider Downs Wealth Management Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 58.4% in the 1st quarter. Schneider Downs Wealth Management Advisors LP now owns 6,374 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $962,000 after purchasing an additional 2,351 shares in the last quarter. Trinity Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 4.5% during the third quarter. Trinity Financial Advisors LLC now owns 4,423 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $771,000 after buying an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. Finally, StoneCrest Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.7% in the third quarter. StoneCrest Wealth Management Inc. now owns 21,509 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $3,567,000 after buying an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, SVP Prabhakar Raghavan sold 34,257 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.60, for a total transaction of $5,570,188.20. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 312,210 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $50,765,346. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Alphabet news, SVP Prabhakar Raghavan sold 34,257 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.60, for a total transaction of $5,570,188.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 312,210 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $50,765,346. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.41, for a total transaction of $1,862,805.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 319,966 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,765,168.06. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 242,552 shares of company stock valued at $40,287,253. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on GOOGL. Wolfe Research started coverage on Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $240.00 target price on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $190.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating and set a $205.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $190.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Seven research 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's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $205.90.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL traded down $2.40 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $178.35. The company had a trading volume of 21,982,048 shares, compared to its average volume of 27,174,885. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $127.90 and a 12 month high of $191.75. The firm has a market cap of $2.20 trillion, a P/E ratio of 23.65, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.03. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $163.54 and its 200-day simple moving average is $169.59. 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 (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. 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 quarter last year, the company earned $1.55 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.61%.

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.