River Road Asset Management LLC Buys 110,235 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

River Road Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 116.5% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 204,856 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 110,235 shares during the quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $34,250,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 9,200.0% during the 2nd quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 186 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 2nd quarter valued at about $37,000. HWG Holdings LP acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Slocum Gordon & Co LLP acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Finally, Hoese & Co LLP raised its position in Alphabet by 62.5% in the 2nd quarter. Hoese & Co LLP now owns 260 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.4 %

NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $171.41 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $163.97 and its 200-day moving average is $170.83. 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 $2.11 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.04.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued 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. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. The business had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $86.39 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.55 earnings per share. Alphabet’s revenue was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis 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 10.61%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 800 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.03, for a total value of $130,424.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 30,024 shares in the company, valued at $4,894,812.72. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Prabhakar Raghavan sold 34,257 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.60, for a total transaction of $5,570,188.20. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 312,210 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,765,346. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 800 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.03, for a total transaction of $130,424.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 30,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,894,812.72. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 209,552 shares of company stock worth $34,433,848 over the last quarter. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on GOOG shares. Seaport Res Ptn raised Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $212.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $200.56.

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.