Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Stock Holdings Decreased by Morse Asset Management Inc

Morse Asset Management Inc lessened its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 5.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 83,368 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 5,189 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for approximately 3.0% of Morse Asset Management Inc’s holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Morse Asset Management Inc’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $13,827,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc raised its stake 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 buying an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. First PREMIER Bank raised its stake in Alphabet by 3.8% in the third quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 1,655 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $275,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Cutler Investment Counsel LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Cutler Investment Counsel LLC now owns 3,663 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $607,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. MKT Advisors LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. MKT Advisors LLC now owns 7,363 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,221,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mendota Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 19.0% during the 3rd quarter. Mendota Financial Group LLC now owns 401 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $67,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on GOOGL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Alphabet from $212.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Pivotal Research upped their target price on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $206.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $190.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $206.69.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Alphabet stock opened at $188.40 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $173.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $171.09. The stock has a market cap of $2.31 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.01. 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 Inc. has a 1-year low of $130.66 and a 1-year high of $201.42.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $72.85 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.55 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th were issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.42%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.00, for a total transaction of $115,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 27,824 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,590,960. This represents a 2.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,834 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.55, for a total value of $559,856.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 20,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,085,531.55. This represents a 12.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 178,957 shares of company stock valued at $31,358,687 over the last quarter. 11.55% of the stock is 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.