Guardian Asset Advisors LLC Increases Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Guardian Asset Advisors LLC boosted its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 7.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 13,739 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 950 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for approximately 1.6% of Guardian Asset Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding. Guardian Asset Advisors LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $2,299,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 9.3% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 87,716,562 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $13,355,724,000 after buying an additional 7,470,042 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 19.7% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 84,171,721 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $12,815,986,000 after purchasing an additional 13,876,534 shares during the period. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 45,731,826 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $6,963,128,000 after purchasing an additional 979,083 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.0% during the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 35,558,778 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $5,414,179,000 after buying an additional 684,968 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 4.5% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 14,657,421 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,688,743,000 after buying an additional 636,008 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Rosenblatt Securities cut Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $181.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Friday, June 28th. Oppenheimer cut their price objective on Alphabet from $210.00 to $185.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. DA Davidson upgraded shares of Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $184.11.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.84, for a total transaction of $230,804.28. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 29,183 shares in the company, valued at $4,927,257.72. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.84, for a total value of $230,804.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 29,183 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,927,257.72. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Prabhakar Raghavan sold 34,257 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.60, for a total transaction of $5,570,188.20. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 312,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $50,765,346. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 217,592 shares of company stock worth $35,922,911. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ GOOG traded up $0.30 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $163.36. The company had a trading volume of 2,327,361 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,784,654. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $163.07 and its 200-day moving average price is $169.07. The company has a quick ratio of 2.08, a current ratio of 2.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $121.46 and a one year high of $193.31. The stock has a market cap of $2.02 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.04.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.04. Alphabet had a return on equity of 30.49% and a net margin of 26.70%. The firm had revenue of $84.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $84.22 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.44 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 9th were given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 9th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 12.27%.

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.