Centaurus Financial Inc. Has $12.14 Million Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Centaurus Financial Inc. grew its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 4.9% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 72,625 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,366 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises 0.8% of Centaurus Financial Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 26th biggest position. Centaurus Financial Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $12,142,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. M&G PLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter valued at $2,240,000. Colonial River Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 5.3% during the 2nd quarter. Colonial River Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,126 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $390,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 301,980 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $50,488,000 after purchasing an additional 4,292 shares in the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 10.2% in the third quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 63,545 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $10,624,000 after acquiring an additional 5,892 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 4.6% in the second quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 11,366 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,097,000 after acquiring an additional 498 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $166.57 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.95. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $169.10 and a 200 day moving average price of $171.86. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $129.40 and a 1 year high of $193.31. The stock has a market cap of $2.04 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.04.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $86.39 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.55 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.48%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 10.61%.

Insider Activity

In other Alphabet news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.78, for a total transaction of $1,898,190.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 330,466 shares in the company, valued at approximately $59,741,643.48. This represents a 3.08 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $339,160,251.80. This represents a 1.04 % 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 valued at $34,673,866. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Phillip Securities upgraded Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. DA Davidson upgraded Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Pivotal Research lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their target price on Alphabet from $185.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus 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.