Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Sold by Aptus Capital Advisors LLC

Aptus Capital Advisors LLC reduced its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 26.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 109,161 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 38,664 shares during the quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $18,104,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 75.0% in the second 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 in the last quarter. Kings Path Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the second quarter worth approximately $36,000. Denver PWM LLC bought a new position in Alphabet during the 2nd quarter valued at $41,000. Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 2nd quarter valued at $53,000. Finally, Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 2nd quarter worth $55,000. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $169.12 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $168.03 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $170.35. 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 has a market cap of $2.07 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.03. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $127.90 and a 12 month high of $191.75.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released 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. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. The business had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $72.85 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.55 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 10.61%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on GOOGL shares. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $210.00 target price (up from $200.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Loop Capital increased their price objective on Alphabet from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on Alphabet from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on Alphabet from $217.00 to $208.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 14th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $205.90.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.67, for a total value of $3,975,075.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,061,806 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $364,259,266.02. The trade was a 1.08 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.44, for a total value of $109,420.08. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 32,017 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,136,807.48. This trade represents a 2.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 206,795 shares of company stock worth $34,673,866 in the last quarter. 11.55% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.