Financial Counselors Inc. Acquires 22,102 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Financial Counselors Inc. increased its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 729,894 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 22,102 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises about 1.8% of Financial Counselors Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest position. Financial Counselors Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $121,053,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.5% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 49,857,900 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $8,268,933,000 after acquiring an additional 1,237,385 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in Alphabet by 0.5% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 49,472,478 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $9,011,412,000 after buying an additional 238,403 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Alphabet by 1.4% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 37,233,079 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $6,175,106,000 after buying an additional 523,416 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in Alphabet by 1.8% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 23,465,190 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $4,274,184,000 after buying an additional 418,204 shares during the period. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its stake in Alphabet by 9.1% in the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 23,263,385 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $4,237,426,000 after buying an additional 1,949,476 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GOOGL has been the topic of several analyst reports. Phillip Securities raised Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Truist Financial increased their price target on Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on Alphabet from $217.00 to $208.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 14th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $217.00 target price (up previously from $215.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Roth Mkm upped their price objective on Alphabet from $206.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $206.03.

Alphabet Price Performance

Alphabet stock opened at $185.17 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The company has a market capitalization of $2.27 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $129.68 and a 12 month high of $191.75. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $169.70 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $170.21.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $72.85 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.55 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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 paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.43%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director Frances Arnold sold 441 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.06, for a total value of $75,437.46. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 16,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,820,779.40. This trade represents a 2.60 % 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, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 37,134 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.02, for a total value of $6,870,532.68. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 282,832 shares in the company, valued at approximately $52,329,576.64. The trade was a 11.61 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 197,923 shares of company stock valued at $34,244,676. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

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.