Wescott Financial Advisory Group LLC Has $642,000 Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Wescott Financial Advisory Group LLC lifted its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,871 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 200 shares during the quarter. Wescott Financial Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $642,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 3.6% during the 2nd quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,620 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $295,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Hengehold Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.8% in the second quarter. Hengehold Capital Management LLC now owns 7,224 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,316,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the period. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc raised its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. First PREMIER Bank lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 3.8% in the third quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 1,655 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $275,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares during the period. Finally, Cutler Investment Counsel LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 1.7% in the third quarter. Cutler Investment Counsel LLC now owns 3,663 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $607,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.63, for a total transaction of $3,614,175.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,114,885 shares in the company, valued at $339,713,977.55. This represents a 1.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of the business’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 transaction of $1,898,190.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 330,466 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $59,741,643.48. This represents a 3.08 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 163,624 shares of company stock valued at $27,803,730 in the last three months. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of GOOGL stock opened at $174.71 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a current ratio of 1.95. The company has a market capitalization of $2.14 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.17, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $129.68 and a 52-week high of $191.75. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $169.51 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $170.24.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $72.85 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.55 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.46%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 10.61%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $205.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. JMP Securities boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Tigress Financial increased their price target on Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on Alphabet from $217.00 to $208.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and set a $217.00 target price (up previously from $215.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.