Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Stock Holdings Increased by Ashton Thomas Securities LLC

Ashton Thomas Securities LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 16.8% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 20,594 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,965 shares during the quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $3,416,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of GOOGL. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc lifted its position in Alphabet by 75.0% in the second quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 140 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. Kings Path Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 2nd quarter worth $36,000. Denver PWM LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the second quarter valued at $41,000. Quarry LP bought a new position in Alphabet during the second quarter valued at about $53,000. Finally, Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new position in Alphabet during the second quarter valued at about $55,000. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $204.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $217.00 price target (up previously from $215.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Scotiabank upgraded Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have given a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $205.90.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.68, for a total transaction of $3,570,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,137,385 shares in the company, valued at $339,160,251.80. This represents a 1.04 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 32,017 shares in the company, valued at $5,136,807.48. This trade represents a 2.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 206,795 shares of company stock valued at $34,673,866. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $164.76 on Monday. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $127.90 and a fifty-two week high of $191.75. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $167.64 and its two-hundred day moving average is $170.36. The firm has a market cap of $2.02 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.95.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued 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. The business had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $72.85 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.55 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.61%.

Alphabet 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.