Paradigm Capital Management LLC NV Makes New Investment in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Paradigm Capital Management LLC NV acquired a new stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 14,703 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,458,000. Alphabet accounts for about 2.4% of Paradigm Capital Management LLC NV’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest position.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 114,802,133 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $19,193,768,000 after purchasing an additional 5,655,022 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 10.3% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 33,334,082 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $5,573,125,000 after purchasing an additional 3,113,395 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 65.9% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 6,294,332 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,052,349,000 after buying an additional 2,500,621 shares during the last quarter. Granite Bay Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 6,610.0% in the 2nd quarter. Granite Bay Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,769,160 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $301,312,000 after buying an additional 1,742,794 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its holdings in Alphabet by 27.8% in the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 7,499,245 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,375,512,000 after acquiring an additional 1,632,691 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $170.49 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $169.98 and a 200-day moving average of $171.84. The company has a market cap of $2.09 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $129.40 and a 1-year high of $193.31.

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

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.47%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 10.61%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Phillip Securities upgraded Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Alphabet from $182.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Alphabet from $187.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price target 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. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $200.56.

Insider Activity

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the firm’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 value of $3,570,300.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,137,385 shares in the company, valued at $339,160,251.80. This trade represents a 1.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 21,467 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 39,334 shares in the company, 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. In the last three months, insiders have sold 206,795 shares of company stock worth $34,673,866. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

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.