Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Holdings Increased by Decatur Capital Management Inc.

Decatur Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 0.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 83,021 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 107 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for 6.3% of Decatur Capital Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 4th largest position. Decatur Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $13,769,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of GOOGL. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 43,005.6% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 18,743,594 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $31,086,250,000 after acquiring an additional 18,700,111 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 587.4% in the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 10,690,326 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,772,991,000 after purchasing an additional 9,135,056 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in Alphabet by 116.4% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 8,670,225 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,437,957,000 after purchasing an additional 4,662,809 shares during the period. Wulff Hansen & CO. boosted its position in Alphabet by 18,810.2% during the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 4,434,260 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $807,700,000 after purchasing an additional 4,410,811 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI grew its holdings in Alphabet by 91.0% in the second quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 7,928,470 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,450,599,000 after purchasing an additional 3,777,527 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,834 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.55, for a total transaction of $559,856.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 20,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,085,531.55. The trade was a 12.05 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.07, for a total value of $3,759,075.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,129,306 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $355,743,153.42. This represents a 1.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 178,957 shares of company stock valued at $31,358,687 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.1 %

NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $188.51 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $130.66 and a 52 week high of $201.42. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $173.99 and its two-hundred day moving average is $171.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.31 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a quick ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $72.85 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.55 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.42%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.61%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Alphabet from $212.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $210.00 price objective (up from $200.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $206.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. JMP Securities raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $182.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Seven investment 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $206.69.

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.