Zega Financial LLC Increases Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Zega Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 20,684 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 92 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up 0.5% of Zega Financial LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. Zega Financial LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $3,430,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Schear Investment Advisers LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 17.0% during the third quarter. Schear Investment Advisers LLC now owns 33,751 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $5,598,000 after purchasing an additional 4,905 shares during the last quarter. Trinity Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 190 shares during the period. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. grew its stake in Alphabet by 27.9% during the 3rd quarter. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 25,275 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $4,192,000 after buying an additional 5,516 shares during the last quarter. abrdn plc increased its position in Alphabet by 10.7% during the third quarter. abrdn plc now owns 6,305,717 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,037,196,000 after buying an additional 611,233 shares during the period. Finally, StoneCrest Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in Alphabet by 0.7% in the third quarter. StoneCrest Wealth Management Inc. now owns 21,509 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,567,000 after buying an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.84, for a total transaction of $230,804.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 29,183 shares in the company, valued at $4,927,257.72. This represents a 4.47 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 441 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.06, for a total value of $75,437.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 16,490 shares in the company, valued at $2,820,779.40. The trade was a 2.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 198,623 shares of company stock worth $34,413,006 in the last three months. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOGL opened at $189.82 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.32 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.18, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.01. 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 1 year low of $129.68 and a 1 year high of $195.61. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $171.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $170.63.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $72.85 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.55 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GOOGL has been the topic of a number of research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Phillip Securities raised shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Alphabet from $204.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $205.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have assigned a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $206.08.

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.