Lathrop Investment Management Corp Boosts Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Lathrop Investment Management Corp increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 39.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,153 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 900 shares during the period. Lathrop Investment Management Corp’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $527,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in 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 worth $3,083,000 after purchasing an additional 15,848 shares during the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 5.8% in the 1st quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 32,706 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $4,980,000 after acquiring an additional 1,798 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 27.1% during the 1st quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 10,645 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,621,000 after purchasing an additional 2,269 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 11.1% in the first quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 459,466 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $69,958,000 after purchasing an additional 45,882 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BOKF NA increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 5.8% in the first quarter. BOKF NA now owns 320,576 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $50,170,000 after purchasing an additional 17,627 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their target price on Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Alphabet from $185.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Pivotal Research upped their price target on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $200.56.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of GOOG opened at $169.49 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $2.07 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.48, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a quick ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $129.40 and a fifty-two week high of $193.31. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $168.93 and its 200 day moving average price is $171.90.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. The company had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $86.39 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.55 EPS. Alphabet’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.47%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 10.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.67, for a total value of $3,975,075.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,061,806 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $364,259,266.02. The trade was a 1.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,835 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.53, for a total value of $429,587.55. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 29,182 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,421,948.46. The trade was a 8.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 206,795 shares of company stock worth $34,673,866. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

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.