Senvest Management LLC Acquires 89,700 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Senvest Management LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 28.1% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 408,529 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 89,700 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up 2.4% of Senvest Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest position. Senvest Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $68,302,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 9,200.0% in the second quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 186 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the second quarter worth about $37,000. HWG Holdings LP bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 2nd quarter valued at about $40,000. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 87.3% during the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. now owns 251 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares during the period. Finally, Slocum Gordon & Co LLP purchased a new position in Alphabet in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $44,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Alphabet stock opened at $166.57 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $129.40 and a twelve month 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. The company has a market capitalization of $2.04 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.09, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.04. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $169.10 and its 200 day moving average is $171.86.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $86.39 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. The company’s revenue was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.55 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.48%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.75, for a total transaction of $123,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 28,524 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,385,565. This represents a 2.73 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.44, for a total transaction of $109,420.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 32,017 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,136,807.48. This represents a 2.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 206,795 shares of company stock worth $34,673,866. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on GOOG shares. Cantor Fitzgerald raised Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Phillip Securities raised shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective 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. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, Scotiabank started coverage on Alphabet in a research note on Friday, October 11th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $212.00 target price on the stock. Five 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.