Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Acquired by Portolan Capital Management LLC

Portolan Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 9.4% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 6,754 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 583 shares during the period. Portolan Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,129,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Menard Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 20.0% during the third quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC now owns 3,320 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $555,000 after buying an additional 554 shares during the period. Mission Creek Capital Partners Inc. lifted its position in Alphabet by 2.8% in the third quarter. Mission Creek Capital Partners Inc. now owns 51,419 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $8,597,000 after purchasing an additional 1,389 shares during the period. Morse Asset Management Inc acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the third quarter worth approximately $166,000. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 12.6% in the third quarter. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC now owns 459,632 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $77,411,000 after purchasing an additional 51,321 shares during the period. Finally, IHT Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 37.5% in the third quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 116,148 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $19,467,000 after purchasing an additional 31,669 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $176.09 on Thursday. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $129.73 and a 12-month 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 $2.16 trillion, a P/E ratio of 23.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.02. The company’s fifty day moving average is $170.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $171.81.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 period in the prior year, the business posted $1.55 earnings per share. Alphabet’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on GOOG. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. DA Davidson upgraded Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their target price on Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Pivotal Research upped their target price on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Alphabet from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $200.56.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.41, for a total transaction of $232,950.47. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 23,515 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,007,191.15. This represents a 5.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.63, for a total transaction of $3,614,175.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,114,885 shares in the company, valued at $339,713,977.55. The trade was a 1.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 163,624 shares of company stock valued at $27,803,730. 12.99% of the stock is owned by 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.