Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Position Lowered by Charter Research & Investment Group Inc.

Charter Research & Investment Group Inc. lowered its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 3.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 44,585 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 1,610 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises approximately 5.9% of Charter Research & Investment Group Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Charter Research & Investment Group Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $7,857,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 242.9% in the 1st quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 168 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares during the period. IMA Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the 1st quarter worth $28,000. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 85.7% in the 1st quarter. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC now owns 195 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. raised its position in Alphabet by 36.4% in the second quarter. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. now owns 251 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the period. Finally, MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the first quarter worth about $50,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,778 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.05, for a total value of $694,638.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 14,516 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,629,725.80. The trade was a 16.06% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,816 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.42, for a total value of $4,408,034.72. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 42,985 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,635,348.70. This represents a 29.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 225,174 shares of company stock worth $58,095,223. 11.64% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Trading Up 6.3%

NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $318.58 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.84 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.90. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $140.53 and a 12 month high of $319.48. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $263.73 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $215.00.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.29 by $0.58. Alphabet had a net margin of 32.23% and a return on equity of 36.08%. The business had revenue of $102.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $99.90 billion. As a group, research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 8th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.28%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on GOOGL. Bank of America increased their target price on Alphabet from $280.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. KeyCorp reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $300.00 price objective (up previously from $265.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Susquehanna boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $225.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-one have given a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $307.65.

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.