SFE Investment Counsel Raises Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

SFE Investment Counsel raised its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 1.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 40,934 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 394 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up about 1.4% of SFE Investment Counsel’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. SFE Investment Counsel’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $6,789,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 70.6% in the 1st quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 101,230 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $15,279,000 after buying an additional 41,880 shares during the period. Tanager Wealth Management LLP grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 4.0% in the 1st quarter. Tanager Wealth Management LLP now owns 22,454 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,389,000 after buying an additional 864 shares during the period. High Note Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 5.9% in the 1st quarter. High Note Wealth LLC now owns 48,484 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $7,318,000 after buying an additional 2,681 shares during the period. Westwood Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 1st quarter worth about $9,478,000. Finally, REDW Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. REDW Wealth LLC now owns 6,384 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $964,000 after buying an additional 210 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director Frances Arnold sold 441 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.06, for a total transaction of $75,437.46. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 16,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,820,779.40. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Alphabet news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $56,765,168.06. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 441 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The shares were 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 directly owns 16,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,820,779.40. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 242,552 shares of company stock valued at $40,287,253 in the last three months. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.3 %

Alphabet stock opened at $178.35 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $163.54 and a 200 day moving average of $169.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.18 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.03. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $127.90 and a 12-month high of $191.75. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $88.27 billion during 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 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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 issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 10.61%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $182.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. China Renaissance raised shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Loop Capital increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Roth Mkm increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $206.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $205.90.

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.