Liberty Square Wealth Partners LLC Makes New $447,000 Investment in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Liberty Square Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 2,413 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $447,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at $24,383,677,000. FMR LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 9.8% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 248,416,916 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $47,025,322,000 after buying an additional 22,100,902 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 17.0% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 69,616,854 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $13,178,470,000 after acquiring an additional 10,135,430 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 16.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 72,033,086 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $13,635,878,000 after acquiring an additional 10,037,685 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 15.9% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 66,050,135 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $12,503,291,000 after acquiring an additional 9,042,271 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet Stock Up 2.6%

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL traded up $4.43 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $172.90. 37,917,640 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 29,780,742. 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 52-week low of $140.53 and a 52-week high of $207.05. The business's fifty day moving average price is $158.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $174.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.10 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. The company had revenue of $76.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $89.30 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.89 EPS. Analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS 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 issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This is a positive change from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.36%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 673 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.33, for a total value of $104,537.09. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 15,303 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,377,014.99. The trade was a 4.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $105,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,813 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,192,275. This trade represents a 8.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 164,654 shares of company stock valued at $26,793,380. Insiders own 11.64% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GOOGL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. DZ Bank downgraded shares of Alphabet from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $198.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Susquehanna decreased their price objective on Alphabet from $225.00 to $220.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Tigress Financial lifted 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. 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $199.75.

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.