Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Acquired by Wills Financial Group Inc.

Wills Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 43,151 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 952 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up about 3.0% of Wills Financial Group Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Wills Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $7,157,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of GOOGL. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 222,555,548 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $36,910,838,000 after purchasing an additional 743,369 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in 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 purchasing an additional 1,237,385 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in Alphabet by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 49,472,478 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $9,011,412,000 after buying an additional 238,403 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Alphabet by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 37,233,079 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $6,175,106,000 after buying an additional 523,416 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.8% during the 2nd 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. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $189.82 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $2.32 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.01. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $171.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $170.67. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $129.68 and a twelve month high of $195.61. 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 (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $72.85 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.55 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is 10.61%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on GOOGL shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday. Seaport Res Ptn raised Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. JMP Securities increased their price objective on Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $190.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Loop Capital boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $206.08.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,802 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.47, for a total value of $2,780,226.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 43,999 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,280,514.53. The trade was a 27.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.84, for a total value of $230,804.28. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 29,183 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,927,257.72. This trade represents a 4.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 198,623 shares of company stock worth $34,413,006 over the last three months. 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.