Challenger Wealth Management Acquires New Shares in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Challenger Wealth Management purchased a new position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 11,284 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,136,000. Alphabet comprises about 1.8% of Challenger Wealth Management's portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest holding.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 518.8% in the fourth quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 166 shares during the period. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. PayPay Securities Corp boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 36.1% in the fourth 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 period. Finally, Anderson Financial Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth about $49,000. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on GOOGL shares. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on Alphabet from $235.00 to $200.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Westpark Capital reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $210.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. DZ Bank downgraded Alphabet from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $198.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Susquehanna decreased their target price on Alphabet from $225.00 to $220.00 and set a "positive" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Mizuho reduced their price target on Alphabet from $230.00 to $205.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. 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's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $199.75.

Alphabet Stock Performance

GOOGL traded up $4.43 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $172.90. The company's stock had a trading volume of 37,917,640 shares, compared to its average volume of 29,780,742. 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 market capitalization of $2.10 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.48, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $158.67 and a 200 day simple moving average of $174.76.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. The firm had revenue of $76.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $89.30 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.89 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current 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 issued a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. This is an increase from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is presently 9.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

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 transaction of $1,962,705.76. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 49,037 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,181,333.08. This trade represents a 19.35% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 1,374 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,606,213.28. This represents a 8.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. 11.64% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.