Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC Has $486,000 Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 30.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,930 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 1,300 shares during the period. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $486,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of GOOGL. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 75.0% in the 2nd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 140 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Kings Path Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the second quarter worth about $36,000. Denver PWM LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 2nd quarter worth about $41,000. Quarry LP bought a new stake in Alphabet during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $53,000. Finally, CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 59.2% in the first quarter. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. now owns 293 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of GOOGL opened at $175.58 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $127.90 and a 1-year high of $191.75. The company has a market capitalization of $2.15 trillion, a P/E ratio of 23.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.95. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $164.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $170.04.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly 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 net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. The firm had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $72.85 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.55 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company 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 dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 10.61%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on GOOGL. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $181.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $204.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $217.00 to $208.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Mizuho boosted their target price on Alphabet from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Guggenheim lifted their price target on Alphabet from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $205.90.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of Alphabet 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,159,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $362,126,319.10. The trade was a 1.03 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 21,467 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.35, for a total value of $3,442,233.45. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 39,334 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,307,206.90. This trade represents a 35.31 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 206,795 shares of company stock worth $34,471,141. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.