GDS Wealth Management Grows Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

GDS Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 3.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 114,056 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,354 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises approximately 1.8% of GDS Wealth Management’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. GDS Wealth Management’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $18,916,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Alphabet by 70.6% during the 1st quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 101,230 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $15,279,000 after acquiring an additional 41,880 shares during the period. Quent Capital LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 3.6% in the 1st quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 31,171 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $4,705,000 after acquiring an additional 1,072 shares during the last quarter. Point Break Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at about $2,807,000. PYA Waltman Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. PYA Waltman Capital LLC now owns 69,841 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $10,541,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hilltop Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 19.4% during the first quarter. Hilltop Partners LLC now owns 9,658 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,458,000 after purchasing an additional 1,568 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOGL opened at $167.65 on Tuesday. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $127.90 and a 52 week high of $191.75. The stock has a market cap of $2.05 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.03. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $167.83 and its 200-day moving average price is $170.34. The company has a quick ratio of 1.95, a current 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 the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $72.85 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.55 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.01 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 10.61%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the company’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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,137,385 shares in the company, valued at approximately $339,160,251.80. This represents a 1.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.44, for a total transaction of $109,420.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 32,017 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,136,807.48. The trade was a 2.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 206,795 shares of company stock valued at $34,673,866 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. DA Davidson assumed coverage on Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $170.00 target price for the company. Scotiabank raised Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and set a $217.00 price target (up from $215.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, JMP Securities boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently 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.