Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Holdings Increased by Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S.

Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. boosted its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 3.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,446,302 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 49,358 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up 5.1% of Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S.’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $239,869,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 2.5% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 49,857,900 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $8,268,933,000 after purchasing an additional 1,237,385 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 49,472,478 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $9,011,412,000 after buying an additional 238,403 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 37,233,079 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $6,175,106,000 after acquiring an additional 523,416 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 23,465,190 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $4,274,184,000 after acquiring an additional 418,204 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its stake in Alphabet by 9.1% during the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 23,263,385 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $4,237,426,000 after purchasing an additional 1,949,476 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on GOOGL shares. Pivotal Research increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. JMP Securities upped their target price on Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. DA Davidson initiated coverage on Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $170.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $210.00 price objective (up previously from $200.00) 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 given a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $205.90.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 800 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.75, for a total value of $123,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 28,524 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,385,565. This trade represents a 2.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.41, for a total value of $232,950.47. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 23,515 shares in the company, valued at $4,007,191.15. The trade was a 5.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 160,789 shares of company stock valued at $27,374,143 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.5 %

GOOGL stock opened at $175.37 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.15 trillion, a P/E ratio of 23.26, a P/E/G 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’s 50 day simple moving average is $169.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $170.21.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. The business had revenue of $88.27 billion during 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 quarter last year, the firm posted $1.55 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. 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 is currently 10.61%.

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.