Ameritas Advisory Services LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Ameritas Advisory Services LLC cut its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 18.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 37,548 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 8,728 shares during the quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $6,227,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 75.0% in the 2nd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 140 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Kings Path Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the 2nd quarter valued at $36,000. Denver PWM LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet in the second quarter worth $41,000. Quarry LP purchased a new position in Alphabet during the second quarter worth $53,000. Finally, Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new position in Alphabet during the second quarter valued at $55,000. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on GOOGL shares. Roth Mkm lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $206.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Pivotal Research upped their target price on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. China Renaissance raised Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Alphabet from $182.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have issued a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $205.90.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.66, for a total transaction of $3,772,350.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,159,885 shares in the company, valued at approximately $362,126,319.10. This trade represents a 1.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 21,467 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.35, for a total transaction of $3,442,233.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 39,334 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,307,206.90. This trade represents a 35.31 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 206,795 shares of company stock worth $34,471,141. Insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOGL opened at $175.30 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a current ratio of 1.95. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $127.90 and a one year high of $191.75. The stock has a market cap of $2.15 trillion, a P/E ratio of 23.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.03. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $166.15 and a two-hundred day moving average of $170.28.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. The business had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $72.85 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.55 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.99 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.61%.

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.