First Business Financial Services Inc. Boosts Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

First Business Financial Services Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 7,476 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 86 shares during the period. First Business Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,250,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of GOOG. Dearborn Partners LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 7.4% in the third quarter. Dearborn Partners LLC now owns 10,628 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,777,000 after acquiring an additional 731 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 1,671,894 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $279,361,000 after purchasing an additional 51,352 shares during the last quarter. Balboa Wealth Partners raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter. Balboa Wealth Partners now owns 47,553 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $7,950,000 after purchasing an additional 2,598 shares in the last quarter. Oak Harbor Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.4% during the third quarter. Oak Harbor Wealth Partners LLC now owns 26,647 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $4,455,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. Finally, OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 3.7% in the third quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 126,226 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $21,104,000 after purchasing an additional 4,562 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.66, for a total value of $3,772,350.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,159,885 shares in the company, valued at approximately $362,126,319.10. This represents a 1.03 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 21,467 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.35, for a total transaction of $3,442,233.45. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 39,334 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,307,206.90. This trade represents a 35.31 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 206,795 shares of company stock worth $34,471,141. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.7 %

Alphabet stock opened at $177.35 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $166.20 and a 200-day simple moving average of $171.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.17 trillion, a PE ratio of 23.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.04. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $129.40 and a 12-month high of $193.31.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. The business had revenue of $88.27 billion during 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%. The business’s revenue was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.55 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 10.61%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Pivotal Research increased their target price on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $182.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $212.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Alphabet from $185.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Five investment 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $200.56.

Alphabet Company 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.