Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Bought by Ashton Thomas Securities LLC

Ashton Thomas Securities LLC grew its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 16.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,594 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,965 shares during the quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $3,416,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc raised its holdings in Alphabet by 75.0% during the second 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 purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the second quarter valued at $36,000. Denver PWM LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet in the second quarter valued at $41,000. Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the second quarter worth about $53,000. Finally, Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 2nd quarter valued at about $55,000. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Down 1.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $164.76 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $167.64 and a 200 day moving average price of $170.36. The company has a market cap of $2.02 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.03. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $127.90 and a 12-month high of $191.75. 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 earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 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 the consensus estimate of $72.85 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.55 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 10.61%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GOOGL has been the subject of a number of research reports. Pivotal Research boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. DA Davidson initiated coverage on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $170.00 price objective on the stock. KeyCorp increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $217.00 price target (up previously from $215.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on Alphabet from $206.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have given a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $205.90.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 21,467 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 $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 link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,137,385 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $339,160,251.80. This represents a 1.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 206,795 shares of company stock valued at $34,673,866 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

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.