Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. Buys 20,727 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. boosted its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 5.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 407,971 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 20,727 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up about 1.2% of Crossmark Global Holdings Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $68,208,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 19.7% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 84,171,721 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $12,815,986,000 after buying an additional 13,876,534 shares during the period. Swedbank AB bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 1st quarter valued at about $1,378,708,000. Capital International Investors grew its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 7,470,042 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 65.9% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 6,294,332 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,052,349,000 after purchasing an additional 2,500,621 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Alphabet by 51.8% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 6,416,150 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $976,923,000 after purchasing an additional 2,190,795 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.78, for a total value of $1,898,190.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 330,466 shares in the company, valued at approximately $59,741,643.48. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.78, for a total value of $1,898,190.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 330,466 shares in the company, valued at approximately $59,741,643.48. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Prabhakar Raghavan sold 34,257 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 312,210 shares in the company, valued at $50,765,346. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 241,752 shares of company stock valued at $40,156,829 in the last quarter. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GOOG has been the topic of several recent research reports. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Alphabet from $182.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wolfe Research raised Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Alphabet from $212.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and three have given 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 an average target price of $200.56.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GOOG opened at $179.86 on Monday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $164.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $171.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a current ratio of 1.95. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $129.40 and a 52 week high of $193.31. The firm has a market cap of $2.20 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.04.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced 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. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. The company had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $86.39 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.55 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.44%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.61%.

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.