Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC Purchases 4,272 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• Ashton Thomas Private Wealth increased its Alphabet stake by 3.2%, buying 4,272 shares in the third quarter to hold 138,642 shares valued at about $47.7 million.
• Alphabet’s latest quarterly results fell short of expectations: EPS was $2.12 versus a $3.02 consensus estimate, while revenue was $127.58 billion against forecasts of $127.96 billion.
• Analysts’ overall view remained positive, with a consensus “Buy” rating and an average price target of $412.51; the company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.22 per share.

Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 138,642 shares of the information services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 4,272 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up about 0.9% of Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $47,704,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in GOOGL. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 5.6% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 238,977,259 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $85,403,303,000 after purchasing an additional 12,718,127 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 8,112,680 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the third quarter valued at $1,612,704,000. Amundi grew its position in Alphabet by 12.7% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 31,745,979 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $9,128,850,000 after purchasing an additional 3,574,810 shares during the period. Finally, Jupiter Topco LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,058,385,000. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet News Roundup

Here's some of the latest news about GOOGL:

• Positive Sentiment: Google Cloud’s reported 103% third-quarter revenue growth and tripling of operating income suggest that Alphabet’s large AI infrastructure investments may be generating returns, bolstering the case for spending despite its scale. 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.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Frances Arnold sold 83 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $340.45, for a total transaction of $28,257.35. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 19,076 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,494,424.20. This trade represents a 0.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders have sold a total of 247 shares of company stock valued at $79,238 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 11.61% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $295.77 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.69, a current ratio of 2.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The business has a fifty day moving average of $328.18 and a two-hundred day moving average of $338.01. The stock has a market cap of $3.64 trillion, a P/E ratio of 15.44, a PEG ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.23. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $270.70 and a 52-week high of $408.61.

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

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company 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 $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 7th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is currently 4.59%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. DZ Bank upgraded Alphabet to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a "market perform" rating and issued a $325.00 price objective (down from $385.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, October 29th. Zacks Research cut Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Citigroup cut their price objective on Alphabet from $447.00 to $375.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 30th. Finally, Citizens Jmp downgraded Alphabet from a "market outperform" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 29th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-five have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $412.51.

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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