Empowered Funds LLC Purchases 13,799 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 6.6% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 224,437 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 13,799 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for about 0.6% of Empowered Funds LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $37,223,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. New Hampshire Trust increased its position in Alphabet by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. New Hampshire Trust now owns 43,714 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $7,963,000 after acquiring an additional 1,132 shares in the last quarter. Trinity Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in Alphabet by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Trinity Financial Advisors LLC now owns 4,423 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $771,000 after acquiring an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. abrdn plc increased its position in Alphabet by 10.7% in the 3rd quarter. abrdn plc now owns 6,305,717 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,037,196,000 after acquiring an additional 611,233 shares in the last quarter. StoneCrest Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in Alphabet by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. StoneCrest Wealth Management Inc. now owns 21,509 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,567,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EWG Elevate Inc. increased its position in Alphabet by 9.7% in the 3rd quarter. EWG Elevate Inc. now owns 1,305 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $216,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of GOOGL opened at $168.95 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $2.07 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.41, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.03. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $127.90 and a 1-year high of $191.75. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $168.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $170.33. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. The business had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $72.85 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.55 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.47%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.44, for a total value of $109,420.08. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 32,017 shares in the company, valued at $5,136,807.48. The trade was a 2.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 21,467 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.35, for a total transaction of $3,442,233.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 39,334 shares in the company, valued at $6,307,206.90. This trade represents a 35.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 206,795 shares of company stock worth $34,673,866 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GOOGL has been the subject of several research reports. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $210.00 price objective (up previously from $200.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Tigress Financial lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $217.00 price target (up previously from $215.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $204.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $205.90.

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.