Ascent Group LLC Has $10.17 Million Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Ascent Group LLC raised its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 60,830 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,645 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises 0.8% of Ascent Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 25th largest position. Ascent Group LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $10,170,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Twelve Points Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.7% in the second quarter. Twelve Points Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,985 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,465,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. PCG Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 3.1% in the second quarter. PCG Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,880 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $345,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Investment Advisory Services Inc. TX ADV increased its stake in Alphabet by 1.6% during the second quarter. Investment Advisory Services Inc. TX ADV now owns 3,636 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $667,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Management Group Inc. ADV raised its position in Alphabet by 2.0% during the second quarter. Advisors Management Group Inc. ADV now owns 2,944 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $540,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. Finally, Shira Ridge Wealth Management lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Shira Ridge Wealth Management now owns 15,490 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,841,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $170.49 on Monday. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $129.40 and a 12 month high of $193.31. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $169.98 and its 200-day moving average price is $171.82. The firm has a market cap of $2.09 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) 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 business had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $86.39 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.55 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.47%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.61%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on GOOG shares. Phillip Securities upgraded Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Canaccord Genuity Group increased 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. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. DA Davidson raised shares of Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Alphabet from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Five investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $200.56.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.44, for a total value of $109,420.08. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 32,017 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,136,807.48. This trade represents a 2.09 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 21,467 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.35, for a total transaction of $3,442,233.45. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 39,334 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,307,206.90. This trade represents a 35.31 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 206,795 shares of company stock valued at $34,673,866. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Company 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.