Ameriflex Group Inc. Buys New Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Ameriflex Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm acquired 14,089 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,874,000. Alphabet accounts for approximately 1.3% of Ameriflex Group Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest position.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 518.8% in the fourth quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. PayPay Securities Corp lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 36.1% during the 4th quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 245 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Anderson Financial Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $49,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 9,000 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value of $1,575,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 255,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,695,000. This trade represents a 3.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total value of $33,106.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 7,813 shares in the company, valued at $1,293,285.89. The trade was a 2.50% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 164,654 shares of company stock valued at $26,793,380 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GOOGL has been the topic of a number of research reports. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Alphabet from $225.00 to $192.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on shares of Alphabet from $235.00 to $200.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 31st. DZ Bank downgraded Alphabet from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $198.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald cut their price target on Alphabet from $200.00 to $159.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on Alphabet from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $199.75.

Alphabet Price Performance

Alphabet stock traded down $0.54 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $172.36. 34,427,314 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 29,799,323. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $158.87 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $174.75. The company has a market capitalization of $2.09 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.41, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $140.53 and a 12-month high of $207.05.

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 for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 quarter last year, the business posted $1.89 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be given a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. This is an increase from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet's payout ratio is currently 9.36%.

Alphabet Company 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.