Northstar Financial Companies Inc. Makes New Investment in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Northstar Financial Companies Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 6,701 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,269,000. Alphabet accounts for about 1.2% of Northstar Financial Companies Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest position.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in 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 valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 166 shares during the period. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. PayPay Securities Corp lifted its stake in Alphabet by 36.1% during the 4th quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 245 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the period. Finally, Anderson Financial Strategies LLC bought a new position in Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at about $49,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.2%

GOOGL traded down $2.13 during trading on Friday, reaching $169.73. The company had a trading volume of 52,598,920 shares, compared to its average volume of 29,980,356. The stock has a market cap of $2.06 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.08, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $159.10 and a 200-day simple moving average of $174.59. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $140.53 and a 52 week high of $207.05. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

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, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. The company had revenue of $76.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.89 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th will be given a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. 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%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.36%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $180.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Rosenblatt Securities restated a "neutral" rating and set a $189.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $185.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. DZ Bank lowered shares of Alphabet from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $198.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $199.75.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 1,374 shares of the 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 owns 15,024 shares in the company, valued at $2,606,213.28. This trade represents a 8.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value of $1,837,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 261,966 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,844,050. The trade was a 3.85% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 164,533 shares of company stock worth $26,772,774 over the last three months. 11.55% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.