Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Stake Boosted by First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 1.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 52,782 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 846 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises 0.5% of First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest position. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $8,825,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in GOOG. Colonial River Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 5.3% in the second quarter. Colonial River Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,126 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $390,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the period. Oak Ridge Investments LLC increased its position in Alphabet by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC now owns 187,229 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $28,508,000 after acquiring an additional 8,201 shares during the period. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton raised its stake in Alphabet by 4.6% during the 2nd quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 11,366 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,097,000 after acquiring an additional 498 shares in the last quarter. Alliance Wealth Management Group boosted its position in Alphabet by 93.6% during the 1st quarter. Alliance Wealth Management Group now owns 3,910 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $595,000 after acquiring an additional 1,890 shares during the period. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 4.6% in the third quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 2,628,176 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $439,405,000 after purchasing an additional 115,716 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.30, for a total transaction of $3,741,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,106,806 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $350,361,837.80. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Alphabet news, SVP Prabhakar Raghavan sold 34,257 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.60, for a total transaction of $5,570,188.20. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 312,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $50,765,346. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.30, for a total value of $3,741,750.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,106,806 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $350,361,837.80. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 220,426 shares of company stock worth $35,993,340 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOG stock opened at $176.14 on Thursday. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $123.93 and a one year high of $193.31. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $163.56 and a two-hundred day moving average of $170.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.18 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.02, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a current ratio of 2.08, a quick ratio of 2.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 26.70% and a return on equity of 30.49%. The business had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $86.39 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.55 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on GOOG. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Scotiabank started coverage on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, October 11th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $212.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Alphabet from $182.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald raised Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.