Northwest Bancshares Inc. Decreases Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Northwest Bancshares Inc. has reduced its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 13.3% during the third quarter, according to reports from HoldingsChannel. The institutional investor now owns 36,875 shares of Alphabet's stock after selling 5,681 shares in the quarter. Alphabet represents about 1.0% of Northwest Bancshares Inc.'s investment portfolio, making it the 23rd largest stake in their holdings. As of the latest reporting period, these shares are valued at approximately $6,116,000.

Other hedge funds have also adjusted their positions in Alphabet. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings by 0.5% during the second quarter, now owning 49,472,478 shares valued at $9,011,412,000 after purchasing an additional 238,403 shares. Similarly, American Century Companies Inc. raised its position by 1.8%, now holding 23,465,190 shares valued at $4,274,184,000 following the acquisition of 418,204 additional shares. The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board also increased its stake by 9.1%, owning 23,263,385 shares worth $4,237,426,000. Notably, International Assets Investment Management LLC significantly increased its position by an astonishing 43,005.6% in the third quarter, now owning 18,743,594 shares worth $31,086,250,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP also increased its holdings by 6.7%, now owning 17,520,067 shares valued at $3,191,561,000. Currently, institutional investors collectively own 40.03% of Alphabet's stock.

Recent Analyst Ratings for Alphabet

Recent analyst comments on GOOGL stock have been generally positive. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an "outperform" rating with a new target price of $217.00, up from a previous $215.00. Needham & Company LLC also maintained a "buy" rating with a target price of $210.00. JMP Securities increased its target from $200.00 to $220.00, giving Alphabet a "market outperform" rating. Evercore ISI raised their price target from $200.00 to $205.00 and also rated it as "outperform." Truist Financial increased its target from $220.00 to $225.00, maintaining a "buy" rating. Currently, seven investment analysts have issued hold ratings for the stock, while thirty-one analysts have given it a buy rating, and five analysts have issued a strong buy rating. Overall, Alphabet has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" with an average target price of $205.90 based on MarketBeat data.

Insider Trading at Alphabet

In related news, Alphabet director John L. Hennessy sold 800 shares of stock on September 12th at an average price of $153.75, totaling $123,000. As a result of this transaction, he now holds 28,524 shares valued at approximately $4,385,565. This represents a 2.73% decrease in his ownership. The sale was documented in a filing with the SEC. Additionally, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares on December 2nd at an average price of $170.41, amounting to $232,950.47. After this sale, the CAO's stake dropped by 5.49%, leaving her with 23,515 shares worth about $4,007,191. Corporate insiders have sold a total of 163,624 shares valued at $27,803,730 in the last quarter, and they currently own 11.55% of the company's stock.

Recent Stock Performance

Alphabet’s stock opened at $171.34 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04 and a quick ratio of 1.95. Its current ratio is also 1.95. The 50-day simple moving average for the stock is $168.84, while the 200-day simple moving average is $170.26. Alphabet's market capitalization stands at $2.10 trillion, with a PE ratio of 22.72 and a PEG ratio of 1.22, alongside a beta of 1.01. Over the past year, Alphabet experienced a 52-week low of $127.90 and a high of $191.75.

Alphabet Inc. recently released its quarterly earnings results, showing an earnings per share (EPS) of $2.12 for the quarter, exceeding analysts’ expectations of $1.83 by $0.29. The company reported revenue of $88.27 billion, surpassing the predicted $72.85 billion. The return on equity for Alphabet is 31.66%, with a net margin of 27.74%. For the current year, analysts project that Alphabet will post an EPS of 8.01.

Alphabet's Dividend Information

Furthermore, Alphabet has declared a quarterly dividend set to be paid on December 16th. Shareholders who are on record by December 9th will receive a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date for this payout is also December 9th, which translates to an annualized dividend of $0.80, equating to a yield of 0.47%. The dividend payout ratio stands at 10.61%.

Company Overview of Alphabet

Alphabet Inc. operates various services and products worldwide, across regions including the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia-Pacific, Canada, and Latin America. The company has several segments, including Google Services, Google Cloud, and Other Bets. The Google Services segment encompasses a wide range of products and services, such as ads, Android, Chrome, devices, Gmail, Google Drive, Google Maps, Google Photos, Google Play, Search, and YouTube.

Alphabet, Stock, Investment