Atom Investors LP Buys 1,348 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Atom Investors LP raised its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 8.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,517 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,348 shares during the quarter. Atom Investors LP’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $2,761,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

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

Alphabet Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $172.98 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a current ratio of 1.95. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $129.40 and a 52-week high of $193.31. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $169.98 and its 200-day moving average price is $171.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.12 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.94, a P/E/G ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.04.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. The business had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $86.39 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. The company’s revenue was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.55 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.02 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.46%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.61%.

Insider Activity

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,835 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 29,182 shares in the company, valued at $4,421,948.46. This trade represents a 8.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.78, for a total value of $1,898,190.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 330,466 shares in the company, valued at $59,741,643.48. This trade represents a 3.08 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 186,124 shares of company stock valued at $31,374,030. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in 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. Pivotal Research lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $182.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, Phillip Securities raised Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $200.56.

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.