LS Investment Advisors LLC Acquires 1,000 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

LS Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 68,921 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for 1.7% of LS Investment Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding. LS Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $11,431,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of GOOGL. TFB Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. TFB Advisors LLC now owns 20,162 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,344,000 after purchasing an additional 577 shares during the period. Seven Post Investment Office LP increased its position in Alphabet by 460.0% in the third quarter. Seven Post Investment Office LP now owns 318,809 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $52,874,000 after buying an additional 261,877 shares in the last quarter. Dudley Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.0% in the third quarter. Dudley Capital Management LLC now owns 32,927 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $5,461,000 after buying an additional 313 shares during the period. Mainstream Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,715,000. Finally, Keynote Financial Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Keynote Financial Services LLC now owns 14,860 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,465,000 after buying an additional 585 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $175.98 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $2.15 trillion, a PE ratio of 23.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.03. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $167.23 and its 200-day moving average price is $170.40. 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 Inc. has a 52-week low of $127.90 and a 52-week high of $191.75.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. The business had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $72.85 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.55 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.99 EPS 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 given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 10.61%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 21,467 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.68, for a total transaction of $3,570,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,137,385 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $339,160,251.80. This trade represents a 1.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 184,295 shares of company stock worth $30,698,791. Corporate insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on GOOGL. DA Davidson began coverage on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $170.00 target price on the stock. Pivotal Research raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $205.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $210.00 price target (up previously from $200.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.