Capital Investment Services of America Inc. Trims Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Capital Investment Services of America Inc. lessened its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 47,180 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 588 shares during the period. Capital Investment Services of America Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $7,825,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 3.6% during the 2nd quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,620 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $295,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Hengehold Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Hengehold Capital Management LLC now owns 7,224 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,316,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 75.0% during the 2nd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 140 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. First PREMIER Bank boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 1,655 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $275,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MKT Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. MKT Advisors LLC now owns 7,363 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,221,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Frances Arnold sold 441 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.06, for a total transaction of $75,437.46. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 16,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,820,779.40. This trade represents a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,159,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $362,126,319.10. This trade represents a 1.03 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 206,795 shares of company stock valued at $34,471,141. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $172.49 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.11 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.03. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $127.90 and a 52 week 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. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $165.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $170.22.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. The business had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 earned $1.55 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 10.61%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Phillip Securities raised shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $190.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Loop Capital upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $217.00 to $208.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Guggenheim upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $205.90.

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.