Challenger Wealth Management Takes $2.14 Million Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Challenger Wealth Management bought a new position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 11,284 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,136,000. Alphabet comprises 1.8% of Challenger Wealth Management's holdings, making the stock its 15th largest holding.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 518.8% in the 4th 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 last quarter. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth about $39,000. PayPay Securities Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 36.1% in the 4th 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 last quarter. Finally, Anderson Financial Strategies LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at about $49,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Trading Down 0.4%

NASDAQ:GOOGL traded down $0.78 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $171.59. 18,095,165 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 35,473,469. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $140.53 and a 12-month high of $207.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.08 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.31, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $159.04 and a 200-day moving average price of $174.73.

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. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business 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 dividend of $0.21 per share. This is an increase 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%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. Alphabet's payout ratio is presently 9.36%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on GOOGL shares. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Alphabet from $167.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Citigroup upped their price target on Alphabet from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Susquehanna dropped their price target on Alphabet from $225.00 to $220.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Ten equities 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $199.75.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 11,764 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now owns 49,037 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,181,333.08. This 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 this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 1,374 shares of the company's 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 completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 15,024 shares in the company, valued at $2,606,213.28. The trade was a 8.38% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 164,654 shares of company stock worth $26,793,380 over the last 90 days. 11.55% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Alphabet 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.