Ascent Group LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 6.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 119,644 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 7,281 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises 1.7% of Ascent Group LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position. Ascent Group LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $22,649,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.
Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Rockbridge Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,119,000. Optivise Advisory Services LLC boosted its position 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 purchasing an additional 403 shares during the period. Community Bank N.A. boosted its position 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 purchasing an additional 2,790 shares during the period. Premier Fund Managers Ltd boosted its position 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 purchasing an additional 14,262 shares during the period. Finally, Absolute Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 14.0% in the fourth quarter. Absolute Capital Management LLC now owns 2,096 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $401,000 after buying an additional 258 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Insider Activity
In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total transaction of $33,106.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 7,813 shares in the company, valued at $1,293,285.89. This represents a 2.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 1,374 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 15,024 shares in the company, valued at $2,606,213.28. The trade was a 8.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 164,654 shares of company stock worth $26,793,380. Corporate insiders own 11.55% of the company's stock.
Alphabet Stock Performance
GOOGL stock traded down $0.82 during trading on Thursday, reaching $171.55. 18,095,165 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 35,473,469. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $140.53 and a twelve month high of $207.05. The company has a market capitalization of $2.08 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $159.04 and a 200-day simple moving average of $174.73. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.
Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. The business had revenue of $76.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.89 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current 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 represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. This is an increase from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet's payout ratio is currently 9.36%.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
Several research analysts have recently weighed in on GOOGL shares. DA Davidson decreased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $160.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $185.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $178.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, April 25th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on Alphabet from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $199.75.
View Our Latest Stock Report on Alphabet
About Alphabet
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Free Report)
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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