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

Brick & Kyle Associates raised its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 3.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 58,311 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 2,168 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for 4.7% of Brick & Kyle Associates' holdings, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Brick & Kyle Associates' holdings in Alphabet were worth $11,038,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on GOOGL shares. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $200.00 price target (down from $230.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. 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. UBS Group set a $195.00 price objective on Alphabet in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of Alphabet from $225.00 to $192.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Ten 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's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $199.75.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value of $1,837,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 261,966 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 can be accessed through this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 11,764 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.84, for a total value of $1,962,705.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 49,037 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,181,333.08. The trade was a 19.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 164,654 shares of company stock worth $26,793,380. Insiders own 11.55% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOGL traded down $0.87 on Thursday, hitting $171.49. 19,518,584 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 29,798,558. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $140.53 and a fifty-two week high of $207.05. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $159.04 and a 200-day moving average price of $174.73. The stock has a market cap of $2.08 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share 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 net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.89 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors 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 is currently 9.36%.

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.