Chancellor Financial Group WB LP Makes New Investment in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Chancellor Financial Group WB LP bought a new position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 15,643 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,961,000. Alphabet accounts for approximately 2.4% of Chancellor Financial Group WB LP's investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 518.8% during 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 purchasing an additional 166 shares during the period. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,000. PayPay Securities Corp lifted its stake 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 valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Finally, Anderson Financial Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth $49,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.2%

NASDAQ:GOOGL traded down $2.13 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $169.73. The company had a trading volume of 52,598,920 shares, compared to its average volume of 29,952,351. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $140.53 and a 1 year high of $207.05. The company has a market cap of $2.06 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a 50-day moving average of $159.12 and a 200 day moving average of $174.68. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. The firm had revenue of $76.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $89.30 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.89 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 1,374 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.56, for a total transaction of $5,153,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,717,696 shares of the company's stock, valued at $430,917,877.76. This trade represents a 1.18% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 164,533 shares of company stock valued at $26,772,774. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $225.00 to $192.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Mizuho dropped their target price on Alphabet from $230.00 to $205.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Wedbush set a $190.00 price target on Alphabet and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald cut their price objective on Alphabet from $200.00 to $159.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $199.75.

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.