Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Shares Acquired by West Family Investments Inc.

West Family Investments Inc. grew its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 52.8% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 47,497 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 16,417 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for about 2.1% of West Family Investments Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest holding. West Family Investments Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $8,370,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Financial Gravity Companies Inc. acquired a new position in Alphabet in the second quarter valued at $31,000. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 85.7% in the 1st quarter. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC now owns 195 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 36.4% in the 2nd quarter. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. now owns 251 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 37.9% in the 2nd quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 324 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the period. Finally, S&T Bank PA boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 40.2% during the 2nd quarter. S&T Bank PA now owns 345 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Frances Arnold sold 102 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $317.66, for a total value of $32,401.32. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 18,104 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,750,916.64. This represents a 0.56% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $319.50, for a total value of $10,383,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,272,119 shares in the company, valued at approximately $725,942,020.50. This trade represents a 1.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 226,128 shares of company stock worth $61,326,372. 11.55% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Trading Down 2.4%

NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $313.72 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 1.75 and a quick ratio of 1.75. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $277.54 and a 200-day moving average of $225.91. The company has a market cap of $3.79 trillion, a PE ratio of 30.94, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.07. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $140.53 and a one year high of $328.83.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.29 by $0.58. The business had revenue of $102.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $99.90 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 32.23% and a return on equity of 35.00%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 8th will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 8th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is presently 8.28%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on GOOGL shares. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Alphabet from $215.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 22nd. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $315.00 price objective (up previously from $250.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $285.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 20th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-one have assigned a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $312.65.

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.