Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC Acquires 5,003 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 15.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 38,088 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,003 shares during the quarter. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $6,317,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc boosted its position in Alphabet by 75.0% in the second quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 140 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Kings Path Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Denver PWM LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the 2nd quarter valued at $41,000. Quarry LP bought a new position in Alphabet in the 2nd quarter valued at $53,000. Finally, Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet in the second quarter worth $55,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 21,467 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.35, for a total transaction of $3,442,233.45. Following the sale, the insider now owns 39,334 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were 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 approximately $59,741,643.48. This represents a 3.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 184,295 shares of company stock valued at $30,698,791. Corporate insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $175.98 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $167.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $170.40. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $127.90 and a 1-year high of $191.75. The firm has a market cap of $2.15 trillion, a PE ratio of 23.34, 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (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 business had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $72.85 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.55 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 10.61%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on GOOGL. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $181.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $217.00 price objective (up previously from $215.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Phillip Securities upgraded Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Seven 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $205.90.

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.