Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB Purchases 164,194 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB raised its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 226.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 236,632 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 164,194 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for about 0.7% of Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB's investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest position. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB's holdings in Alphabet were worth $39,245,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Lantz Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 10.8% during the second quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 4,622 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $842,000 after purchasing an additional 452 shares during the last quarter. Spectrum Wealth Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in Alphabet in the 2nd quarter valued at $218,000. ERn Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter. ERn Financial LLC now owns 17,011 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $3,098,000 after buying an additional 416 shares during the period. Windmill Hill Asset Management Ltd raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 5.6% during the second quarter. Windmill Hill Asset Management Ltd now owns 48,904 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $8,908,000 after acquiring an additional 2,600 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rockingstone Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.7% during the second quarter. Rockingstone Advisors LLC now owns 26,803 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $4,882,000 after acquiring an additional 448 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on GOOGL shares. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $206.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. DA Davidson initiated coverage on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $170.00 price target for the company. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $217.00 price objective (up from $215.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $205.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $206.69.

Alphabet Stock Up 1.5 %

NASDAQ GOOGL traded up $2.90 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $191.41. 62,697,719 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 27,725,518. 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 business's 50-day moving average is $173.99 and its 200-day moving average is $171.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.34 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $130.66 and a twelve month high of $201.42.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 in the prior year, the firm posted $1.55 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.42%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is presently 10.61%.

Insider Activity

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.07, for a total transaction of $3,759,075.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,129,306 shares of the company's stock, valued at $355,743,153.42. The trade was a 1.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.00, for a total transaction of $115,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 27,824 shares in the company, valued at $4,590,960. The trade was a 2.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 178,957 shares of company stock valued at $31,358,687. 11.55% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.