Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC Decreases Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC lessened its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 3.1% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 12,294 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 395 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for 0.7% of Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $2,039,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in GOOGL. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 43,005.6% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 18,743,594 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $31,086,250,000 after buying an additional 18,700,111 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 587.4% in the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 10,690,326 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,772,991,000 after purchasing an additional 9,135,056 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 14.4% during the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 57,803,291 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $8,724,251,000 after purchasing an additional 7,275,757 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 116.4% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 8,670,225 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,437,957,000 after purchasing an additional 4,662,809 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wulff Hansen & CO. boosted its stake in Alphabet by 18,810.2% in the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 4,434,260 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $807,700,000 after purchasing an additional 4,410,811 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOGL stock opened at $175.30 on Tuesday. 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 firm’s 50-day moving average price is $166.15 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $170.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.15 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.25, a PEG ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.03. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $127.90 and a 12-month high of $191.75.

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

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th will be issued 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 0.46%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 10.61%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOGL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Roth Mkm increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $206.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. China Renaissance raised shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Alphabet from $182.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have given a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $205.90.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 32,017 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,136,807.48. This represents a 2.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.78, for a total transaction of $1,898,190.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 330,466 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $59,741,643.48. This trade represents a 3.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 206,795 shares of company stock valued at $34,471,141 over the last quarter. 11.55% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Alphabet

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.