Blue Zone Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 10.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 69,893 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 6,818 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises 3.0% of Blue Zone Wealth Advisors LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Blue Zone Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $10,808,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rockbridge Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at about $3,119,000. Optivise Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 8.0% in the fourth 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. increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. Community Bank N.A. now owns 46,173 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $8,741,000 after purchasing an additional 2,790 shares during the period. Premier Fund Managers Ltd grew its holdings in Alphabet by 30.0% during the fourth quarter. Premier Fund Managers Ltd now owns 61,792 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $11,816,000 after acquiring an additional 14,262 shares during the period. Finally, Absolute Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 14.0% in the 4th quarter. Absolute Capital Management LLC now owns 2,096 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $401,000 after purchasing an additional 258 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company's stock.
Alphabet Trading Up 3.3%
Alphabet stock opened at $173.68 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $2.11 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. 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 Inc. has a 12 month low of $140.53 and a 12 month high of $207.05. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $160.14 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $174.35.
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, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 last year, the company earned $1.89 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.
Alphabet Increases Dividend
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.48%. This is a boost from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.36%.
Insider Activity at Alphabet
In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 11,764 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.84, for a total value of $1,962,705.76. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 49,037 shares in the company, valued at $8,181,333.08. This trade represents a 19.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total transaction of $33,106.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 7,813 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,293,285.89. This trade represents a 2.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 195,770 shares of company stock valued at $32,036,638 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 11.64% of the company's stock.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
GOOGL has been the subject of several research reports. Mizuho reduced their price objective on Alphabet from $230.00 to $205.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $178.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, April 25th. KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $180.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on Alphabet from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Ten research 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, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $199.75.
Check Out Our Latest Analysis on Alphabet
About Alphabet
(
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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