Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC Makes New $321,000 Investment in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 1,695 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $321,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bennett Selby Investments LP boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Bennett Selby Investments LP now owns 1,354 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $256,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC now owns 1,293 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $245,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 2,381 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $457,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 7,527 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,425,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Burt Wealth Advisors boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Burt Wealth Advisors now owns 5,307 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,005,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on GOOGL shares. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $189.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday. Tigress Financial upped their price target on Alphabet from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Susquehanna decreased their price objective on Alphabet from $225.00 to $220.00 and set a "positive" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 25th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Alphabet from $167.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $199.75.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 11,764 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the insider now 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 filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 1,374 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.47, for a total value of $238,347.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 15,024 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,606,213.28. This represents a 8.38% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 164,654 shares of company stock worth $26,793,380. 11.64% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.4%

NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $168.47 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $158.57 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $174.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.04 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.93, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $140.53 and a 1 year high of $207.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $76.49 billion during 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 quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.89 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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. This is a boost from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.50%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.

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