Clark Capital Management Group Inc. Purchases 288,369 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Clark Capital Management Group Inc. lifted its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 32.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,164,638 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 288,369 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up 1.5% of Clark Capital Management Group Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest holding. Clark Capital Management Group Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $220,466,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC now owns 16,955 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $3,210,000 after acquiring an additional 416 shares during the period. Dunhill Financial LLC increased its position in Alphabet by 22.7% during the fourth quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 7,587 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,436,000 after purchasing an additional 1,402 shares during the last quarter. Duquesne Family Office LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $14,516,000. Eagle Global Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Eagle Global Advisors LLC now owns 182,790 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $34,602,000 after acquiring an additional 735 shares during the period. Finally, Colonial Trust Co SC boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 7.1% during the 4th quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 56,723 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $10,738,000 after buying an additional 3,737 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total value of $33,106.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,813 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,293,285.89. This represents a 2.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 2,824 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $187.43, for a total transaction of $529,302.32. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 15,024 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,815,948.32. The trade was a 15.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 146,824 shares of company stock valued at $25,086,603 in the last ninety days. 11.64% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOGL stock opened at $151.38 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.84 trillion, a P/E ratio of 18.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $140.53 and a 52 week high of $207.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84. The company's 50 day moving average price is $159.54 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $175.25.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. The firm had revenue of $76.49 billion for 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 quarter last year, the business posted $1.89 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.55%. 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 recently issued reports on GOOGL. DZ Bank lowered Alphabet from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $198.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Roth Mkm reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $220.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Alphabet from $210.00 to $185.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have assigned a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $199.46.

About Alphabet

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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