First Business Financial Services Inc. Raises Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

First Business Financial Services Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 36,444 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 213 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up approximately 0.6% of First Business Financial Services Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 18th largest holding. First Business Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $6,044,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in Alphabet by 70.6% during the first 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 buying an additional 41,880 shares during the period. Quent Capital LLC grew its position in 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 buying an additional 1,072 shares during the period. Tyro Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the first quarter valued at $8,026,000. Tremblant Capital Group grew its position in Alphabet by 76.1% during the first quarter. Tremblant Capital Group now owns 9,415 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,421,000 after buying an additional 4,068 shares during the period. Finally, Kestra Advisory Services LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 9.3% during the first quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 533,158 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $80,470,000 after buying an additional 45,361 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of GOOGL opened at $169.23 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $127.90 and a fifty-two week high of $191.75. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $168.36 and its 200 day moving average price is $170.33. The company has a market cap of $2.07 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.44, a PEG ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a quick ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 $72.85 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.55 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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 paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 10.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.68, for a total transaction of $3,570,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,137,385 shares in the company, valued at $339,160,251.80. The trade was a 1.04 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.44, for a total transaction of $109,420.08. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 32,017 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,136,807.48. This trade represents a 2.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 206,795 shares of company stock valued at $34,673,866 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GOOGL has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Truist Financial lifted their target price 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. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $210.00 target price (up previously from $200.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $205.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Roth Mkm lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $206.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-one have given a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.