Empower Advisory Group LLC Has $339.28 Million Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Empower Advisory Group LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 0.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,029,300 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 15,667 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for approximately 1.1% of Empower Advisory Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest position. Empower Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $339,279,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. RPG Investment Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. RPG Investment Advisory LLC now owns 164,418 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $27,489,000 after purchasing an additional 2,783 shares in the last quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 18.7% during the 3rd quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 369,400 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $61,760,000 after acquiring an additional 58,291 shares in the last quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 8.2% during the 3rd quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 202,723 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $33,893,000 after acquiring an additional 15,392 shares in the last quarter. Savvy Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 37.2% during the 3rd quarter. Savvy Advisors Inc. now owns 12,256 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,049,000 after acquiring an additional 3,322 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 100,510 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $16,804,000 after acquiring an additional 2,326 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.7 %

NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $183.32 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a current ratio of 1.95. The firm has a market cap of $2.24 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.04. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $129.40 and a 52 week high of $193.31. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $165.25 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $171.44.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted 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 analyst estimates of $86.39 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.55 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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 given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.61%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 330,466 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $59,741,643.48. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.78, for a total value of $1,898,190.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 330,466 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $59,741,643.48. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Prabhakar Raghavan sold 34,257 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.60, for a total transaction of $5,570,188.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 312,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $50,765,346. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 241,752 shares of company stock valued at $40,156,829 in the last three months. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Barclays raised their price objective on Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Alphabet from $182.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wolfe Research raised Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Scotiabank started coverage on Alphabet in a research report on Friday, October 11th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $212.00 target price for the company. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group raised their target price on Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 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 given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently 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.