Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Sold by Confluence Wealth Services Inc.

Confluence Wealth Services Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 8.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 27,659 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 2,645 shares during the period. Confluence Wealth Services Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $4,587,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 1.8% during the third quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 1,839,604 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $305,098,000 after purchasing an additional 33,405 shares in the last quarter. Indie Asset Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 19.1% during the third quarter. Indie Asset Partners LLC now owns 5,775 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $958,000 after acquiring an additional 926 shares during the period. Prossimo Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 2.6% in the third quarter. Prossimo Advisors LLC now owns 28,978 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $4,806,000 after buying an additional 740 shares during the last quarter. Royal Harbor Partners LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 1.6% in the third quarter. Royal Harbor Partners LLC now owns 18,881 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,131,000 after buying an additional 303 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Conning Inc. increased its holdings in Alphabet by 5.3% in the third quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 70,991 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $11,774,000 after buying an additional 3,560 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $172.49 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.11 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.03. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $165.18 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $170.08. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $127.90 and a 1 year high of $191.75. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. The business 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 period in the prior year, the company posted $1.55 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.99 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be paid 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 0.46%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 10.61%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Alphabet from $204.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $181.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Roth Mkm lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $206.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Pivotal Research boosted their price target on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Alphabet from $200.00 to $208.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Seven 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $205.90.

Insider Activity

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 21,467 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.35, for a total transaction of $3,442,233.45. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 39,334 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,307,206.90. This represents a 35.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.66, for a total value of $3,772,350.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,159,885 shares in the company, valued at $362,126,319.10. This represents a 1.03 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 206,795 shares of company stock worth $34,471,141. Corporate insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

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.