Stevens Capital Management LP Buys 57,810 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Stevens Capital Management LP lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 172.9% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 91,237 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 57,810 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises 2.2% of Stevens Capital Management LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest position. Stevens Capital Management LP’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $15,254,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SYM FINANCIAL Corp lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp now owns 1,574 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $263,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the period. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 24.5% during the 3rd quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 427,752 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $71,516,000 after acquiring an additional 84,301 shares during the period. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. raised its holdings in Alphabet by 2.9% during the third quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 2,043,811 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $341,705,000 after buying an additional 57,531 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Redwood Grove Capital LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet during the third quarter worth $20,996,000. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.63, for a total value of $3,614,175.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,114,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $339,713,977.55. This trade represents a 1.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,835 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.53, for a total transaction 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 represents a 8.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 163,624 shares of company stock valued at $27,803,730. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $176.09 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.16 trillion, a PE ratio of 23.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.02. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $129.73 and a twelve month high of $193.31. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $170.63 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $171.81.

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. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. The firm had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $86.39 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.55 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.02 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 10.61%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GOOG has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Pivotal Research upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $187.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.