Northstar Asset Management Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Northstar Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 20.9% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 5,526 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 956 shares during the period. Northstar Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $924,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Catalina Capital Group LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 6.0% in the third quarter. Catalina Capital Group LLC now owns 23,853 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,988,000 after buying an additional 1,348 shares during the last quarter. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc increased its holdings in Alphabet by 5.4% in the third quarter. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc now owns 162,384 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $27,149,000 after buying an additional 8,304 shares during the last quarter. Balentine LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 132.1% in the third quarter. Balentine LLC now owns 9,840 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,645,000 after buying an additional 5,600 shares during the last quarter. Long Run Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 7.8% in the third quarter. Long Run Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 24,072 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $4,025,000 after buying an additional 1,749 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HF Advisory Group LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 7.2% in the third quarter. HF Advisory Group LLC now owns 28,031 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $4,686,000 after buying an additional 1,893 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Phillip Securities raised Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price objective on Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays raised their price objective on Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Alphabet from $187.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $200.56.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $178.33 on Thursday. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $129.40 and a 52 week high of $193.31. The company has a quick ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The company has a market cap of $2.20 trillion, a P/E ratio of 23.65, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $164.24 and a 200 day moving average price of $170.89.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. The company had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $86.39 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.55 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.45%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,835 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 29,182 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,421,948.46. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,835 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.53, for a total transaction of $429,587.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 29,182 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,421,948.46. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.36, for a total transaction of $3,990,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,084,306 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $369,672,512.16. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 232,052 shares of company stock valued at $38,424,448. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

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.