Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC Has $2.04 Million Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC cut its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 12,294 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 395 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up approximately 0.7% of Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $2,039,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of GOOGL. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Alphabet by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 497,874,324 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $75,144,172,000 after buying an additional 4,064,073 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 14.4% during the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 57,803,291 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $8,724,251,000 after buying an additional 7,275,757 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.5% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 49,472,478 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $9,011,412,000 after acquiring an additional 238,403 shares during the period. Capital World Investors grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.7% in the first 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 in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in Alphabet by 1.8% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 23,465,190 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $4,274,184,000 after acquiring an additional 418,204 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 21,467 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.35, for a total value of $3,442,233.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 39,334 shares in the company, valued at $6,307,206.90. This represents a 35.31 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.44, for a total value of $109,420.08. Following 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 2.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 206,795 shares of company stock worth $34,471,141. Insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on GOOGL. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $181.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $210.00 price objective (up previously from $200.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Alphabet from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, JMP Securities raised their price target on Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have given a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $205.90.

Alphabet Trading Up 1.6 %

NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $175.30 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $166.15 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $170.28. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $127.90 and a 12 month high of $191.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.15 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.25, a PEG ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.03. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $72.85 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.55 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.99 EPS for the current fiscal 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 dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.46%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.