Griffin Asset Management Inc. Has $14.28 Million Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Griffin Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 13.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 58,731 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,180 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up 1.6% of Griffin Asset Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 18th largest position. Griffin Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $14,277,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of GOOGL. LeConte Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 8.1% during the third quarter. LeConte Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,557 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,351,000 after purchasing an additional 418 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.5% in the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 306,646 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $74,546,000 after buying an additional 1,506 shares during the last quarter. Amarillo National Bank boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Amarillo National Bank now owns 19,278 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $4,686,000 after acquiring an additional 378 shares during the period. Meyer Handelman Co. increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. now owns 117,281 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $28,511,000 after acquiring an additional 427 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hilltop Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 611.4% during the 3rd quarter. Hilltop Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 15,068 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,663,000 after acquiring an additional 12,950 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GOOGL has been the subject of several research reports. Melius Research raised their price target on Alphabet from $220.00 to $255.00 in a report on Thursday, September 25th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a “buy” rating and set a $315.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday, December 2nd. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 22nd. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-one have given a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $317.76.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $315.15 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $301.53 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $243.51. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $140.53 and a 12-month high of $328.83. The company has a market capitalization of $3.80 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.29 by $0.58. The company had revenue of $102.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $99.90 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 32.23% and a return on equity of 35.00%. Analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 8th were given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 8th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.28%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, Director Frances Arnold sold 102 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.45, for a total value of $31,971.90. Following the transaction, the director owned 18,205 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,706,357.25. This trade represents a 0.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $308.19, for a total value of $184,914.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 3,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,206,872.04. This trade represents a 13.29% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 192,687 shares of company stock worth $56,255,711 in the last quarter. 11.64% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Alphabet

Alphabet Inc is the holding company created in 2015 to organize Google and a portfolio of businesses developing technologies beyond Google’s core internet services. Its principal operations are led by Google, which builds and operates consumer-facing products such as Google Search, YouTube, Android, Chrome, Gmail, Google Maps and Google Workspace, as well as advertising platforms (Google Ads and AdSense) that historically generate the majority of its revenue. Google also develops consumer hardware (Pixel phones, Nest smart-home devices, Chromecast) and developer and distribution platforms such as Google Play.

Beyond Google’s consumer and advertising businesses, Alphabet invests in enterprise and infrastructure offerings through Google Cloud, which provides cloud computing, data analytics and productivity services to businesses and institutions.