Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) is MWA Asset Management’s 9th Largest Position

MWA Asset Management lowered its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 2.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 21,987 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 491 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises about 2.4% of MWA Asset Management’s holdings, making the stock its 9th largest position. MWA Asset Management’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $3,676,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. M&G PLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 3rd quarter worth about $2,240,000. Colonial River Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Alphabet by 5.3% during the 2nd quarter. Colonial River Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,126 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $390,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 1.4% in the third quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 301,980 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $50,488,000 after buying an additional 4,292 shares during the period. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 10.2% during the third quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 63,545 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $10,624,000 after buying an additional 5,892 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton grew its stake in Alphabet by 4.6% during the second quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 11,366 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,097,000 after buying an additional 498 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on GOOG shares. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price objective on Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Scotiabank started coverage on Alphabet in a research note on Friday, October 11th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $212.00 price objective on the stock. DA Davidson upgraded Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Phillip Securities raised Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $200.56.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,835 shares of Alphabet 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. The trade was a 8.85 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.68, for a total transaction of $3,570,300.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,137,385 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $339,160,251.80. This represents a 1.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 184,295 shares of company stock worth $30,698,791. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Trading Up 1.6 %

GOOG opened at $179.58 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.20 trillion, a PE ratio of 23.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.04. 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 12-month low of $129.40 and a 12-month high of $193.31. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $168.15 and its 200 day moving average price is $171.87.

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 business had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $86.39 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.55 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company 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. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 10.61%.

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.