Arkfeld Wealth Strategies L.L.C. Boosts Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Arkfeld Wealth Strategies L.L.C. raised its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 6.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 41,089 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 2,631 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for approximately 2.8% of Arkfeld Wealth Strategies L.L.C.'s portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. Arkfeld Wealth Strategies L.L.C.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $6,521,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of GOOGL. Norges Bank bought a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at about $24,383,677,000. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 9.8% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 248,416,916 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $47,025,322,000 after buying an additional 22,100,902 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 16,993.2% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 16,062,457 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,483,898,000 after purchasing an additional 15,968,487 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 17.0% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 69,616,854 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $13,178,470,000 after purchasing an additional 10,135,430 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 16.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 72,033,086 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $13,635,878,000 after purchasing an additional 10,037,685 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on GOOGL shares. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Alphabet from $225.00 to $192.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wedbush set a $190.00 price target on Alphabet and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on Alphabet from $235.00 to $200.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their price target on Alphabet from $200.00 to $159.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $199.75.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 673 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.33, for a total transaction of $104,537.09. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 15,303 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,377,014.99. The trade was a 4.21% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 11,764 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.84, for a total transaction of $1,962,705.76. Following the sale, the insider now owns 49,037 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,181,333.08. The trade was a 19.35% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 195,770 shares of company stock worth $32,036,638 in the last quarter. Insiders own 11.64% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $173.68 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $140.53 and a 1 year high of $207.05. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $160.14 and a 200-day moving average of $174.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.11 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. 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 analysts' expectations of $89.30 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.89 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th will be given a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. This is a boost from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet's payout ratio is 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.