Captrust Financial Advisors Increases Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 674,113 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,839 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors’ holdings in Alphabet were worth $112,705,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 9,200.0% in the second quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 186 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet in the second quarter worth about $37,000. HWG Holdings LP bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the second quarter worth about $40,000. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 87.3% in the third quarter. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. now owns 251 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 117 shares during the period. Finally, Slocum Gordon & Co LLP bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the second quarter worth about $44,000. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $170.82 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $2.09 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a current ratio of 1.95. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $169.86 and a 200-day moving average price of $171.84. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $129.40 and a one year high of $193.31.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $86.39 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.55 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.02 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on GOOG. Citigroup raised their price objective on Alphabet from $212.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Scotiabank began coverage on Alphabet in a research note on Friday, October 11th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $212.00 price objective on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Alphabet from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Alphabet from $187.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Alphabet from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $200.56.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,835 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.53, for a total value of $429,587.55. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 29,182 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,421,948.46. This represents a 8.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.67, for a total transaction of $3,975,075.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,061,806 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $364,259,266.02. The trade was a 1.08 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 206,795 shares of company stock worth $34,673,866. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.