Perennial Advisors LLC Takes Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Perennial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 90,401 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $17,216,000. Alphabet makes up about 3.7% of Perennial Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth $79,000. AlphaCore Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 19.8% during the fourth quarter. AlphaCore Capital LLC now owns 26,005 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $4,952,000 after buying an additional 4,307 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 726,195 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $138,297,000 after buying an additional 38,299 shares during the last quarter. Griffith & Werner Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at $4,038,000. Finally, Sunbeam Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at $819,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOG traded up $0.25 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $174.23. The company had a trading volume of 10,530,068 shares, compared to its average volume of 22,928,145. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $142.66 and a 52-week high of $208.70. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.11 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.64, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $160.72 and a two-hundred day moving average of $176.47.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - 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 $90.23 billion for 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%. Alphabet's revenue for the quarter was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.89 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be given a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. This is an increase from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.36%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on GOOG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Alphabet from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Needham & Company LLC cut Alphabet from a "buy" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. KeyCorp dropped their price objective on Alphabet from $202.00 to $185.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities raised Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $203.94.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $1,837,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 261,966 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,844,050. This trade represents a 3.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total value of $33,106.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 7,813 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,293,285.89. The trade was a 2.50% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 164,654 shares of company stock worth $26,793,380 over the last quarter. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.