Princeton Global Asset Management LLC Buys 2,678 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Princeton Global Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 4.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 66,168 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 2,678 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for 2.0% of Princeton Global Asset Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest holding. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $10,232,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. PayPay Securities Corp grew its holdings 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 worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth about $49,000. Finally, Navigoe LLC bought a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $51,000. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on GOOGL shares. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Citigroup lifted their price target on Alphabet from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $159.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $199.75.

Alphabet Trading Up 1.4%

Shares of GOOGL stock traded up $2.41 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $176.09. The company's stock had a trading volume of 28,876,123 shares, compared to its average volume of 30,199,290. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84. The company has a market cap of $2.14 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $160.14 and its 200-day simple moving average is $174.38. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $140.53 and a 52 week high of $207.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last announced 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. The company had revenue of $76.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.89 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 boost from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.48%. Alphabet's payout ratio is presently 9.36%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 673 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.33, for a total value of $104,537.09. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 15,303 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,377,014.99. This trade represents a 4.21% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.90, for a total transaction of $5,066,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,652,696 shares in the company, valued at approximately $413,555,306.40. This represents a 1.21% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 195,770 shares of company stock valued at $32,036,638. Corporate insiders own 11.64% of the company's stock.

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.