Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC Decreases Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC lowered its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,217,063 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 3,677 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for 1.2% of Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $189,640,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of GOOG. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 114,802,133 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $19,193,768,000 after purchasing an additional 5,655,022 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 10.3% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 33,334,082 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $5,573,125,000 after buying an additional 3,113,395 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in 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 buying an additional 2,500,621 shares during the period. Granite Bay Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 6,610.0% in the 2nd quarter. Granite Bay Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,769,160 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $301,312,000 after buying an additional 1,742,794 shares during the period. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 27.8% in the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 7,499,245 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,375,512,000 after buying an additional 1,632,691 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,835 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.53, for a total value of $429,587.55. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 29,182 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,421,948.46. The trade was a 8.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.78, for a total transaction of $1,898,190.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 330,466 shares in the company, valued at $59,741,643.48. The trade was a 3.08 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 163,624 shares of company stock worth $27,803,730 in the last 90 days. 12.99% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $174.31 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $2.13 trillion, a PE ratio of 23.12, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.02. The company’s fifty day moving average is $170.84 and its 200 day moving average is $171.82. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $131.06 and a 52 week high of $193.31. 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:GOOG) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $86.39 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. The firm’s revenue was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.55 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th will be given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is presently 10.61%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Scotiabank assumed coverage on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, October 11th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $212.00 price objective for the company. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $182.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, DA Davidson raised shares of Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $200.56.

Alphabet Company 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.