Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Sold by Whetstone Capital Advisors LLC

Whetstone Capital Advisors LLC lessened its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 0.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 130,373 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 1,083 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up about 10.5% of Whetstone Capital Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Whetstone Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $21,797,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 9.1% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 15,424,324 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,578,793,000 after buying an additional 1,291,274 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 4.5% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 14,657,421 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,688,743,000 after acquiring an additional 636,008 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in Alphabet by 2.3% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 12,327,458 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,261,103,000 after acquiring an additional 282,121 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Alphabet by 2.5% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 11,024,276 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,843,149,000 after purchasing an additional 264,962 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service grew its stake in Alphabet by 14.0% in the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 9,903,537 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,655,772,000 after purchasing an additional 1,218,671 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $168.08 on Monday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $169.10 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $171.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.06 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.04. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $129.40 and a fifty-two week high of $193.31. 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:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. The business had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $86.39 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. Alphabet’s quarterly revenue was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.55 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 given 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 0.48%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 10.61%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 21,467 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.35, for a total value of $3,442,233.45. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 39,334 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,307,206.90. This represents a 35.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.67, for a total value of $3,975,075.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,061,806 shares in the company, valued at approximately $364,259,266.02. This represents a 1.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 206,795 shares of company stock valued at $34,673,866 in the last ninety days. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on GOOG shares. Barclays increased their price objective on Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Alphabet from $212.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. DA Davidson raised Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $200.56.

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.