Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Purchased by Sterling Investment Counsel LLC

Sterling Investment Counsel LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 33,002 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,703 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up about 2.0% of Sterling Investment Counsel LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $5,473,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Alphabet by 0.8% during the first 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 in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 14.4% during the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 57,803,291 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $8,724,251,000 after acquiring an additional 7,275,757 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 49,472,478 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $9,011,412,000 after acquiring an additional 238,403 shares during the period. Capital World Investors boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 35,412,299 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $5,344,778,000 after acquiring an additional 597,756 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.8% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 23,465,190 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $4,274,184,000 after purchasing an additional 418,204 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GOOGL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $240.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Alphabet from $200.00 to $208.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Roth Mkm upped their price target on Alphabet from $206.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $205.51.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the company’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 completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 32,017 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,136,807.48. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.44, for a total value of $109,420.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 32,017 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,136,807.48. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 21,467 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.35, for a total transaction of $3,442,233.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 39,334 shares in the company, valued at $6,307,206.90. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 230,244 shares of company stock valued at $37,776,954. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.1 %

NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $171.29 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 2.08 and a current ratio of 1.95. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $126.93 and a 1 year high of $191.75. The stock has a market cap of $2.11 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.03. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $162.43 and a 200-day simple moving average of $169.10.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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. As a group, analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.47%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 10.61%.

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.