Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV Boosts Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV boosted its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 73,597 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,482 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises about 0.9% of Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $12,206,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 14.4% in the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 57,803,291 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $8,724,251,000 after purchasing an additional 7,275,757 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in Alphabet by 0.5% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 49,472,478 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $9,011,412,000 after purchasing an additional 238,403 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its position in Alphabet by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 35,412,299 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $5,344,778,000 after purchasing an additional 597,756 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in Alphabet by 1.8% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 23,465,190 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $4,274,184,000 after buying an additional 418,204 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its position in Alphabet by 9.1% during the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 23,263,385 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $4,237,426,000 after purchasing an additional 1,949,476 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.78, for a total transaction of $1,898,190.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 330,466 shares in the company, valued at approximately $59,741,643.48. This trade represents a 3.08 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.44, for a total value of $109,420.08. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 32,017 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,136,807.48. This trade represents a 2.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 206,795 shares of company stock valued at $34,673,866. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on GOOGL. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on Alphabet from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. DA Davidson began coverage on Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $170.00 price objective for the company. Loop Capital increased their target price on Alphabet from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of Alphabet from $217.00 to $208.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 14th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have assigned a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $205.90.

Alphabet Stock Up 1.8 %

NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $167.65 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $167.83 and its two-hundred day moving average is $170.34. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $127.90 and a 1-year high of $191.75. The company has a market capitalization of $2.05 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.23, a PEG ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. The firm had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $72.85 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.55 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be paid 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 0.48%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is presently 10.61%.

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.