WestEnd Advisors LLC Decreases Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

WestEnd Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 0.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 235,322 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 967 shares during the quarter. WestEnd Advisors LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $39,028,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. New Hampshire Trust raised its position in Alphabet by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. New Hampshire Trust now owns 43,714 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $7,963,000 after purchasing an additional 1,132 shares during the last quarter. Berkshire Money Management Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $359,000. Schneider Downs Wealth Management Advisors LP raised its position in Alphabet by 58.4% during the 1st quarter. Schneider Downs Wealth Management Advisors LP now owns 6,374 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $962,000 after purchasing an additional 2,351 shares during the last quarter. Trinity Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Trinity Financial Advisors LLC now owns 4,423 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $771,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. Finally, abrdn plc raised its position in Alphabet by 10.7% during the 3rd quarter. abrdn plc now owns 6,305,717 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,037,196,000 after purchasing an additional 611,233 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.66, for a total transaction of $3,772,350.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,159,885 shares in the company, valued at approximately $362,126,319.10. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.66, for a total value of $3,772,350.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,159,885 shares in the company, valued at $362,126,319.10. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.78, for a total value of $1,898,190.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 330,466 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $59,741,643.48. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 241,752 shares of company stock valued at $40,156,829 over the last ninety days. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $180.35 on Tuesday. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $127.90 and a one year high of $191.75. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $163.54 and its 200 day moving average is $169.74. The stock has a market cap of $2.21 trillion, a P/E ratio of 23.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a current ratio of 1.95.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its earnings results 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. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. The company had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $72.85 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.55 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.99 earnings per share for the current 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 paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.44%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is presently 10.61%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on GOOGL shares. DA Davidson started coverage on Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $170.00 price target for the company. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $240.00 target price on the stock. Bank of America upped their target price on Alphabet from $206.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Argus upped their target price on Alphabet from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Alphabet from $204.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seven research 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.