Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Acquired by Covington Investment Advisors Inc.

Covington Investment Advisors Inc. increased its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 222,275 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,150 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises about 5.6% of Covington Investment Advisors Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Covington Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $37,162,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 360.1% during the 1st quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 20,249 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,083,000 after acquiring an additional 15,848 shares in the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 5.8% during the first quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 32,706 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $4,980,000 after purchasing an additional 1,798 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 21.2% in the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 239,041 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $36,396,000 after buying an additional 41,777 shares during the period. Coppell Advisory Solutions Corp. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the first quarter valued at about $460,000. Finally, Empirical Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet during the 1st quarter worth approximately $4,416,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.67, for a total value of $3,975,075.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,061,806 shares in the company, valued at $364,259,266.02. This trade represents a 1.08 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.41, for a total value of $1,862,805.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 319,966 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $56,765,168.06. This trade represents a 3.18 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 206,795 shares of company stock worth $34,673,866. 12.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on GOOG shares. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Phillip Securities raised shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Alphabet from $212.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn raised Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Five 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $200.56.

Alphabet Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $169.43 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $169.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $171.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a current ratio of 1.95. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $129.40 and a 1-year high of $193.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.07 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.04.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $88.27 billion for 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%. Alphabet’s revenue was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.55 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.02 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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 given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.