Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) is Brick & Kyle Associates' 4th Largest Position

Brick & Kyle Associates grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 3.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 58,311 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 2,168 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up about 4.7% of Brick & Kyle Associates' portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Brick & Kyle Associates' holdings in Alphabet were worth $11,038,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GOOGL. Bennett Selby Investments LP boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Bennett Selby Investments LP now owns 1,354 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $256,000 after buying an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC now owns 1,293 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $245,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 2,381 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $457,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the period. Addison Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 7,527 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,425,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the period. Finally, Burt Wealth Advisors boosted its stake in Alphabet by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Burt Wealth Advisors now owns 5,307 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,005,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Trading Up 2.6%

Shares of GOOGL traded up $4.43 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $172.90. 37,917,640 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 29,780,742. 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 1 year low of $140.53 and a 1 year high of $207.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.10 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.48, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. The business's 50-day moving average price is $158.67 and its 200-day moving average price is $174.76.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last posted 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 firm had revenue of $76.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.89 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 1,374 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.47, for a total value of $238,347.78. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 15,024 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,606,213.28. This represents a 8.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $1,837,500.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 261,966 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $45,844,050. The trade was a 3.85% 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. Company insiders own 11.64% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on GOOGL shares. DZ Bank lowered shares of Alphabet from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $198.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. UBS Group set a $195.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Wedbush set a $190.00 price target on shares of Alphabet and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities restated a "neutral" rating and set a $189.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $199.75.

About Alphabet

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.