Ameriflex Group Inc. Purchases New Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Ameriflex Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund purchased 14,089 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,874,000. Alphabet comprises about 1.3% of Ameriflex Group Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest position.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rockbridge Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,119,000. Optivise Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 8.0% during the 4th quarter. Optivise Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,464 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,035,000 after acquiring an additional 403 shares during the last quarter. Community Bank N.A. grew its holdings in Alphabet by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. Community Bank N.A. now owns 46,173 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $8,741,000 after acquiring an additional 2,790 shares during the last quarter. Premier Fund Managers Ltd grew its holdings in Alphabet by 30.0% during the 4th quarter. Premier Fund Managers Ltd now owns 61,792 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $11,816,000 after acquiring an additional 14,262 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Absolute Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 14.0% in the 4th quarter. Absolute Capital Management LLC now owns 2,096 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $401,000 after purchasing an additional 258 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Roth Mkm restated a "buy" rating and issued a $220.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Tigress Financial boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. UBS Group set a $195.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and issued a $178.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $199.75.

Alphabet Stock Down 0.4%

GOOGL traded down $0.78 during trading on Thursday, hitting $171.59. 18,095,165 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 35,473,469. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $140.53 and a fifty-two week high of $207.05. 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 stock has a market cap of $2.08 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.31, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. The business's 50 day moving average is $159.04 and its two-hundred day moving average is $174.73.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. The firm had revenue of $76.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $89.30 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.89 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. This is a positive change from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is presently 9.36%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value of $105,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 6,813 shares in the company, valued at $1,192,275. This represents a 8.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 1,374 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.47, for a total transaction of $238,347.78. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 15,024 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,606,213.28. The trade was a 8.38% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 164,654 shares of company stock worth $26,793,380 in the last quarter. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.