Comgest Global Investors S.A.S. Buys 99,968 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Comgest Global Investors S.A.S. raised its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 6.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,568,198 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 99,968 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises approximately 3.7% of Comgest Global Investors S.A.S.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Comgest Global Investors S.A.S.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $260,086,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. LJI Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 21.0% in the 3rd quarter. LJI Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,622 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,264,000 after buying an additional 1,322 shares during the last quarter. Heritage Investment Group Inc. grew its stake in Alphabet by 23.8% in the 3rd quarter. Heritage Investment Group Inc. now owns 2,828 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $469,000 after purchasing an additional 544 shares during the period. KPP Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. KPP Advisory Services LLC now owns 13,457 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,232,000 after purchasing an additional 285 shares during the last quarter. RIA Advisory Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth $478,000. Finally, Maxwell Wealth Strategies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 20.5% in the 3rd quarter. Maxwell Wealth Strategies Inc. now owns 29,278 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $4,970,000 after buying an additional 4,982 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $206.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. China Renaissance raised shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Alphabet from $204.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Roth Mkm boosted their target price on Alphabet from $206.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Alphabet from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $205.90.

Alphabet Trading Down 0.2 %

NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $168.95 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $168.47 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $170.33. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $127.90 and a twelve month high of $191.75. The company has a market capitalization of $2.07 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.41, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. The company 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 period last year, the firm posted $1.55 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.47%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 10.61%.

Insider Activity

In other Alphabet news, Director Frances Arnold sold 441 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.06, for a total value of $75,437.46. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 16,490 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,820,779.40. The trade was a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,137,385 shares in the company, valued at $339,160,251.80. This represents a 1.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 206,795 shares of company stock valued at $34,673,866. Corporate insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

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.