Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL is Morningstar Investment Management LLC’s 5th Largest Position

Morningstar Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 18.1% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 358,015 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 54,808 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up approximately 5.5% of Morningstar Investment Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Morningstar Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $63,093,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in Alphabet by 242.9% during the first quarter. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. now owns 168 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. IMA Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. von Borstel & Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 85.7% in the first quarter. NBZ Investment Advisors LLC now owns 195 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. increased its stake in Alphabet by 36.4% during the second quarter. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. now owns 251 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.15, for a total value of $8,129,875.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,369,619 shares in the company, valued at approximately $592,760,192.85. This represents a 1.35% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 103 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.13, for a total value of $25,042.39. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 17,284 shares in the company, valued at $4,202,258.92. The trade was a 0.59% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 246,150 shares of company stock valued at $55,805,379 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 11.64% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $191.00 to $224.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company set a $236.00 target price on shares of Alphabet and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Finally, New Street Research upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $275.00 to $295.00 in a report on Friday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have given a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $263.20.

Alphabet Trading Up 2.7%

NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $259.92 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.14 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.68, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.00. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $140.53 and a 12 month high of $261.68. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $236.72 and its 200-day moving average price is $195.25. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $93.60 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. Equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

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.