Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Purchased by Verdence Capital Advisors LLC

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 72,779 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 3,389 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises about 1.0% of Verdence Capital Advisors LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $12,070,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 497,874,324 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $75,144,172,000 after buying an additional 4,064,073 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 14.4% during the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 57,803,291 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $8,724,251,000 after purchasing an additional 7,275,757 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.5% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 49,472,478 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $9,011,412,000 after purchasing an additional 238,403 shares during the period. Capital World Investors increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.7% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 35,412,299 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $5,344,778,000 after purchasing an additional 597,756 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 23,465,190 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $4,274,184,000 after purchasing an additional 418,204 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of GOOGL opened at $164.76 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $127.90 and a fifty-two week high of $191.75. The company has a market cap of $2.02 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.85, a PEG ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.03. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $167.64 and its 200 day moving average price is $170.36.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. The business had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $72.85 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.55 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is currently 10.61%.

Insider Activity

In other Alphabet news, Director Frances Arnold sold 441 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.06, for a total value of $75,437.46. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 16,490 shares in the company, valued at $2,820,779.40. This trade represents a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 682 shares of Alphabet 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 32,017 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,136,807.48. This trade represents a 2.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 206,795 shares of company stock worth $34,673,866. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on GOOGL shares. Pivotal Research lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Alphabet from $182.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Scotiabank upgraded Alphabet to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Evercore ISI upped 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, Tigress Financial raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have assigned a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $205.90.

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.