Hancock Whitney Corp Purchases 195 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Hancock Whitney Corp boosted its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 0.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 22,040 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 195 shares during the quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $3,685,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 9,200.0% during the 2nd quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 186 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the second quarter worth $37,000. HWG Holdings LP acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the second quarter worth $40,000. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 87.3% in the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. now owns 251 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Slocum Gordon & Co LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 2nd quarter valued at $44,000. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet Trading Up 1.7 %

GOOG opened at $169.43 on Tuesday. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $129.40 and a fifty-two week high of $193.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.07 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.95. The company’s 50-day moving average is $169.30 and its 200 day moving average is $171.85.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $86.39 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. Alphabet’s quarterly revenue was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.55 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 10.61%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.67, for a total value of $3,975,075.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,061,806 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $364,259,266.02. The trade was a 1.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 441 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.06, for a total transaction of $75,437.46. Following the sale, the director now owns 16,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,820,779.40. The trade was a 2.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 206,795 shares of company stock valued at $34,673,866. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on GOOG. Citigroup lifted their price target on Alphabet from $212.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $182.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Pivotal Research lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on Alphabet from $187.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $200.56.

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.