Ascent Group LLC Purchases 7,281 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Ascent Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 6.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 119,644 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 7,281 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up about 1.7% of Ascent Group LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Ascent Group LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $22,649,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have 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 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 518.8% during 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 during the last quarter. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. PayPay Securities Corp increased its stake in Alphabet by 36.1% in the 4th quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 245 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. Finally, Anderson Financial Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth about $49,000. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GOOGL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $189.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their price objective on Alphabet from $200.00 to $159.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on Alphabet from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Susquehanna dropped their price objective on Alphabet from $225.00 to $220.00 and set a "positive" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 25th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $199.75.

Alphabet Trading Up 2.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL traded up $4.43 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $172.90. 37,917,640 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 29,780,742. 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 firm has a market cap of $2.10 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $158.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $174.76. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $140.53 and a 1 year high of $207.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last issued its 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 business had revenue of $76.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.89 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be issued a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. This is a boost from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.36%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 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 $1,837,500.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 261,966 shares of the company's stock, valued at $45,844,050. This represents a 3.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, 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 transaction of $105,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 6,813 shares in the company, valued at $1,192,275. This represents a 8.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 164,654 shares of company stock worth $26,793,380. 11.64% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.