Old North State Wealth Management LLC Boosts Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Old North State Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 100.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,833 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 4,924 shares during the period. Old North State Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,524,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. Addison Advisors LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 7,527 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,425,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Burt Wealth Advisors boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Burt Wealth Advisors now owns 5,307 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,005,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Perritt Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 10.4% in the fourth quarter. Perritt Capital Management Inc now owns 618 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $117,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Nia Impact Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Nia Impact Advisors LLC now owns 17,161 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $3,249,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hanlon Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Hanlon Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,553 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $673,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of Alphabet stock traded up $0.44 during trading on Thursday, hitting $179.08. The stock had a trading volume of 21,689,729 shares, compared to its average volume of 31,462,867. The company has a current ratio of 1.77, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $140.53 and a 12 month high of $207.05. The firm has a market cap of $2.17 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.00. The business's 50-day moving average is $167.96 and its 200 day moving average is $174.20.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.54% and a net margin of 30.86%. The business had revenue of $76.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $89.30 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.89 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate 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 was paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th were given a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.47%. This is a boost from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 9th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is 9.36%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $105,000.00. Following the sale, the director owned 6,813 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,192,275. This trade represents a 8.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 9,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $1,575,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 255,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at $44,695,000. This trade represents a 3.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 183,143 shares of company stock valued at $30,529,028 over the last three months. 11.64% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Citizens Jmp upgraded Alphabet from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $220.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, June 27th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Alphabet from $225.00 to $192.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a "neutral" rating and set a $171.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $167.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $199.95.

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.