Heritage Investment Group Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Heritage Investment Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 166.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,812 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,003 shares during the period. Heritage Investment Group Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $805,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in GOOG. Twelve Points Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 0.7% in the second quarter. Twelve Points Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,985 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,465,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. PCG Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 3.1% in the 2nd quarter. PCG Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,880 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $345,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Investment Advisory Services Inc. TX ADV raised its stake in Alphabet by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Investment Advisory Services Inc. TX ADV now owns 3,636 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $667,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Advisors Management Group Inc. ADV boosted its stake in Alphabet by 2.0% in the second quarter. Advisors Management Group Inc. ADV now owns 2,944 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $540,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 11.1% during the first quarter. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC now owns 600 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $91,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of Alphabet stock traded down $3.46 during trading on Friday, reaching $173.89. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 21,708,870 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,582,979. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $167.01 and a 200-day moving average price of $171.65. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $129.40 and a 12-month high of $193.31. The company has a market capitalization of $2.13 trillion, a P/E ratio of 23.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.04. 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:GOOG) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $86.39 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. The business’s revenue was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.55 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.99 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.46%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.61%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on GOOG. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Alphabet from $185.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Pivotal Research upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $182.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $200.56.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.66, for a total value of $3,772,350.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,159,885 shares in the company, valued at $362,126,319.10. The trade was a 1.03 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, 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. In the last three months, insiders sold 206,795 shares of company stock worth $34,471,141. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

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.