Apollon Financial LLC Increases Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Apollon Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 0.3% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 49,192 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 147 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises about 2.4% of Apollon Financial LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest position. Apollon Financial LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $8,158,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 70.6% during the 1st quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 101,230 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $15,279,000 after acquiring an additional 41,880 shares during the period. Quent Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 3.6% during the first quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 31,171 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $4,705,000 after acquiring an additional 1,072 shares during the last quarter. Burns Matteson Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet during the 1st quarter valued at about $382,000. Leelyn Smith LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 209.8% in the 1st quarter. Leelyn Smith LLC now owns 37,995 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $5,735,000 after buying an additional 25,730 shares during the period. Finally, Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the first quarter worth $4,635,000. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Frances Arnold sold 441 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.06, for a total value of $75,437.46. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 16,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,820,779.40. This represents a 2.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.44, for a total transaction of $109,420.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 32,017 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,136,807.48. The trade was a 2.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 206,795 shares of company stock worth $34,673,866. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $169.12 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.95. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $127.90 and a 1-year high of $191.75. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $168.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $170.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.07 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 $72.85 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.55 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. 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 0.47%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.61%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on GOOGL. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $205.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $217.00 target price (up from $215.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have assigned a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $205.90.

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.