54,024 Shares in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Purchased by Arete Wealth Advisors LLC

Arete Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 54,024 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $8,960,000. Alphabet comprises approximately 0.7% of Arete Wealth Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest holding.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc lifted its stake in Alphabet by 75.0% in the second quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 140 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. First PREMIER Bank raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 1,655 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $275,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Cutler Investment Counsel LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Cutler Investment Counsel LLC now owns 3,663 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $607,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. MKT Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.8% during the third quarter. MKT Advisors LLC now owns 7,363 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,221,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mendota Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 19.0% in the third quarter. Mendota Financial Group LLC now owns 401 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $67,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Down 3.6 %

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $188.40 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $173.46 and a two-hundred day moving average of $171.09. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $130.66 and a 12-month high of $201.42. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The stock has a market cap of $2.31 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $72.85 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.55 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th were given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.42%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 10.61%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on GOOGL. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $205.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Alphabet from $182.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Scotiabank raised shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Pivotal Research increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $206.69.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,834 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.55, for a total value of $559,856.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 20,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,085,531.55. The trade was a 12.05 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 441 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.06, for a total transaction of $75,437.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 16,490 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,820,779.40. This trade represents a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 178,957 shares of company stock valued at $31,358,687. Insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

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.