Bensler LLC Purchases 608 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Bensler LLC grew its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 13,732 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 608 shares during the quarter. Bensler LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $2,296,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Verity Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 3rd quarter worth $322,000. Hudson Value Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 5.1% during the third quarter. Hudson Value Partners LLC now owns 34,123 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $5,705,000 after buying an additional 1,643 shares during the last quarter. LS Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. LS Investment Advisors LLC now owns 160,210 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $26,786,000 after buying an additional 1,269 shares in the last quarter. Mine & Arao Wealth Creation & Management LLC. increased its holdings in Alphabet by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Mine & Arao Wealth Creation & Management LLC. now owns 37,513 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $6,272,000 after buying an additional 589 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Channel Wealth LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 13.1% in the 3rd quarter. Channel Wealth LLC now owns 43,751 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $7,315,000 after buying an additional 5,056 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Up 2.2 %

Shares of GOOG opened at $182.28 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $129.40 and a 12-month high of $193.31. 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 company has a market capitalization of $2.24 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.04. The business’s 50 day moving average is $164.24 and its 200 day moving average is $170.89.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its 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. The firm had revenue of $88.27 billion during 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%. Alphabet’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.55 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company 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 dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.44%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 10.61%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.03, for a total transaction of $130,424.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 30,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,894,812.72. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.44, for a total value of $109,420.08. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 32,017 shares in the company, valued at $5,136,807.48. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.03, for a total transaction of $130,424.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 30,024 shares in the company, valued at $4,894,812.72. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 242,552 shares of company stock valued at $40,287,253. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on GOOG shares. Phillip Securities upgraded shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $187.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Pivotal Research raised their price target on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price objective on Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $200.56.

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.