21,473 Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL Shares Purchased by Waycross Partners LLC

Key Points

• Waycross Partners increased its Alphabet stake 8.4% in the third quarter, buying 21,473 shares to hold 275,822 shares valued at about $94.9 million. Alphabet represents 7.4% of its portfolio and is its second-largest holding.
• Other major institutional investors also added shares; institutional investors collectively own 40.03% of Alphabet. Analysts’ consensus rating is Buy, with an average price target of $412.51.
• Alphabet’s latest quarter fell short of expectations, reporting $2.12 in earnings per share versus a $3.02 consensus estimate and revenue of $127.58 billion versus $127.96 billion expected.

Waycross Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 8.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 275,822 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 21,473 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for 7.4% of Waycross Partners LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Waycross Partners LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $94,905,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of GOOGL. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Alphabet by 5.6% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 238,977,259 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $85,403,303,000 after purchasing an additional 12,718,127 shares during the period. Amundi increased its position in Alphabet by 4.6% in the second quarter. Amundi now owns 33,203,350 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $11,865,809,000 after buying an additional 1,457,371 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 10.1% in the second quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 17,724,321 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $6,334,186,000 after buying an additional 1,631,721 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 7.1% in the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 17,079,800 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $4,911,467,000 after buying an additional 1,139,400 shares during the period. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 90.9% in the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 17,040,373 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $4,900,078,000 after buying an additional 8,112,680 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, Director Frances Arnold sold 83 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $340.45, for a total value of $28,257.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 19,076 shares in the company, valued at $6,494,424.20. This trade represents a 0.43% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 247 shares of company stock valued at $79,238. 11.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GOOGL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $450.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, October 29th. Tigress Financial reissued a "strong-buy" rating and issued a $485.00 price objective (up from $415.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, September 17th. Rosenblatt Securities lowered their price objective on Alphabet from $410.00 to $380.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 29th. Citizens Jmp downgraded shares of Alphabet from a "market outperform" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, October 29th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $420.00 to $350.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 29th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-five have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $412.51.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL traded down $2.93 during trading on Friday, hitting $295.77. 30,682,111 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 40,687,932. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $270.70 and a 52-week high of $408.61. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $328.18 and a 200 day moving average of $338.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 2.79 and a quick ratio of 2.69. The company has a market cap of $3.64 trillion, a PE ratio of 15.44, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.23.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.02 by ($0.90). The company had revenue of $127.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $127.96 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 50.03% and a return on equity of 43.33%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 19.81 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 14th. Investors of record on Monday, December 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 7th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is 4.59%.

Alphabet News Summary

These are some of the GOOGL news items that stood out recently:

• Positive Sentiment: Google made a faster, lower-cost Gemini model its everyday default and opened preorders for $395 Samsung-built AI glasses, scheduled to ship December 10. The product rollout highlights Alphabet’s effort to bring its AI services to more users and devices. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: An investor commentary argues that Alphabet’s substantial cash generation and business strengths provide reasons not to overreact to AI-related capital spending, though the returns on that spending remain a key issue for investors. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Alphabet co-founder Larry Page reportedly plans to sell another $148 million in shares. Insider sales can weigh on sentiment, although a sale alone does not establish a change in the company’s outlook. Read More.

Alphabet Profile

Alphabet Inc. is a technology holding company whose largest business is Google. Founded in 1998 by Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Google became part of Alphabet when the company reorganized its businesses under the holding-company structure in 2015. Google's products and services include Search, YouTube, Android, Chrome, Google Maps, Google Play and Google Cloud. The company also generates revenue from digital advertising and offers devices, subscriptions and artificial intelligence products and services.

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