Value Aligned Research Advisors LLC Buys 2,538 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Value Aligned Research Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 143.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,308 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,538 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for about 0.2% of Value Aligned Research Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding. Value Aligned Research Advisors LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $720,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 9,200.0% in the second quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 186 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 2nd quarter valued at $37,000. HWG Holdings LP purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 2nd quarter worth $40,000. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 87.3% in the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. now owns 251 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Slocum Gordon & Co LLP purchased a new position in Alphabet during the second quarter valued at $44,000. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.41, for a total value of $1,862,805.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 319,966 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,765,168.06. This trade represents a 3.18 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $5,136,807.48. The trade was a 2.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 184,295 shares of company stock valued at $30,698,791. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GOOG has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Alphabet from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Scotiabank began coverage on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, October 11th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $212.00 price target for the company. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price objective 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. Finally, Pivotal Research upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $200.56.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ GOOG opened at $179.58 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.95. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $129.40 and a 1-year high of $193.31. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $168.15 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $171.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.20 trillion, a PE ratio of 23.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.04.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $88.27 billion during 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%. Alphabet’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.55 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is 10.61%.

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.