Bernard Wealth Management Corp. Buys New Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Bernard Wealth Management Corp. acquired a new stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 24,290 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $4,598,000. Alphabet accounts for approximately 2.1% of Bernard Wealth Management Corp.'s portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest holding.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of GOOGL. Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. grew its position in Alphabet by 518.8% in the 4th quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. PayPay Securities Corp raised its position 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Anderson Financial Strategies LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth $49,000. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Westpark Capital reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $210.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Wedbush set a $190.00 target price on Alphabet and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. UBS Group set a $195.00 price target on Alphabet in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Susquehanna decreased their price target on Alphabet from $225.00 to $220.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $199.75.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of GOOGL traded up $4.43 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $172.90. 37,917,640 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 29,780,742. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.10 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $158.67 and a 200 day simple moving average of $174.76. 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.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. The company had revenue of $76.49 billion for 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 period last year, the company earned $1.89 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 673 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 15,303 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,377,014.99. This trade represents a 4.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of Alphabet 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 transaction, the director now owns 6,813 shares in the company, valued at $1,192,275. The trade was a 8.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 164,654 shares of company stock valued at $26,793,380. Company insiders own 11.64% of the company's stock.

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.