Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Position Boosted by Banco Santander S.A.

Banco Santander S.A. increased its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 4.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 681,944 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 29,823 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for 1.3% of Banco Santander S.A.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Banco Santander S.A.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $113,100,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Blackhawk Capital Partners LLC. increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 9.5% in the third quarter. Blackhawk Capital Partners LLC. now owns 30,242 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $5,016,000 after acquiring an additional 2,612 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 4.4% in the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 552,019 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $91,552,000 after acquiring an additional 23,333 shares during the period. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 29.5% in the third quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 5,189 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $861,000 after acquiring an additional 1,181 shares during the period. Makena Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.3% in the third quarter. Makena Capital Management LLC now owns 91,834 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $15,231,000 after acquiring an additional 314 shares during the period. Finally, German American Bancorp Inc. increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 6.9% in the third quarter. German American Bancorp Inc. now owns 201,974 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $33,497,000 after acquiring an additional 12,966 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. KeyCorp increased their price target 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. Roth Mkm increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $206.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $206.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have assigned a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $205.90.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,802 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.47, for a total value of $2,780,226.94. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 43,999 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,280,514.53. This trade represents a 27.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,835 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.53, for a total transaction of $429,587.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 29,182 shares in the company, valued at $4,421,948.46. The trade was a 8.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 163,624 shares of company stock worth $27,803,730 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $172.64 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $2.11 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.01. The company’s 50 day moving average is $169.30 and its 200 day moving average is $170.31. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $129.68 and a twelve month high of $191.75. 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 issued 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 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.55 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.46%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.61%.

Alphabet Company 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.