Benjamin Edwards Inc. Raises Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 6.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 163,726 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 9,666 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $31,005,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. BLI Banque de Luxembourg Investments purchased a new position in Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at $125,593,000. BNP Paribas raised its holdings in Alphabet by 34.6% in the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas now owns 207,565 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $39,292,000 after purchasing an additional 53,377 shares in the last quarter. Algert Global LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 14.1% during the fourth quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 33,559 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $6,353,000 after buying an additional 4,156 shares during the period. Alteri Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at about $5,092,000. Finally, Altimeter Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 31.1% during the fourth quarter. Altimeter Capital Management LP now owns 867,305 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $164,181,000 after purchasing an additional 205,660 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 news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.90, for a total transaction of $32,380.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,613 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,232,544.70. This trade represents a 2.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.16, for a total value of $5,075,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,685,196 shares in the company, valued at $419,320,207.36. This represents a 1.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 148,164 shares of company stock worth $25,357,390. Insiders own 11.55% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Alphabet stock opened at $164.03 on Friday. The company's 50-day moving average price is $160.19 and its 200-day moving average price is $175.41. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The company has a market cap of $1.99 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $140.53 and a twelve month high of $207.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. The company had revenue of $76.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.89 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be given a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. This is an increase from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is 9.36%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on GOOGL. KeyCorp increased their target price on Alphabet from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. DA Davidson dropped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $160.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their price target on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $159.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have issued a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $199.46.

Alphabet 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.

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