B&L Asset Management LLC Makes New $2.84 Million Investment in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

B&L Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 16,973 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,838,000. Alphabet makes up 1.8% of B&L Asset Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 21st largest position.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Boston Partners increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 21.2% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 32,381 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $4,930,000 after purchasing an additional 5,662 shares in the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $670,000. Bank & Trust Co acquired a new position in Alphabet during the second quarter worth approximately $319,000. City State Bank lifted its stake in Alphabet by 2.2% in the second quarter. City State Bank now owns 13,787 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,529,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quent Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.3% in the second quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 32,794 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $6,015,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Price Performance

Alphabet stock opened at $170.49 on Friday. 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 $129.40 and a one year high of $193.31. The company has a market cap of $2.09 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.04. The business has a fifty day moving average of $169.98 and a two-hundred day moving average of $171.84.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) 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. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. The firm had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $86.39 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.55 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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 issued a $0.20 dividend. 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 dividend payout ratio is currently 10.61%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 32,017 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,136,807.48. This represents a 2.09 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 21,467 shares of Alphabet 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 transaction, the insider now owns 39,334 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,307,206.90. The trade was a 35.31 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 206,795 shares of company stock valued at $34,673,866 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on GOOG. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $212.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Alphabet from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Alphabet from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $200.56.

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.