Prospera Financial Services Inc Buys 37,971 Shares of Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Key Points

• Prospera Financial Services Inc. increased its Alphabet stake by 15.3% in the fourth quarter, buying 37,971 more shares and bringing its total holding to 286,930 shares worth about $89.8 million.
• Alphabet reported strong quarterly results, with earnings of $5.11 per share versus estimates of $2.64 and revenue of $109.9 billion, both beating analyst expectations.
• The company also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.22 per share from $0.21, while analysts remain broadly bullish with a consensus Moderate Buy rating and an average price target of $413.13.

Prospera Financial Services Inc raised its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 15.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 286,930 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 37,971 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up approximately 1.5% of Prospera Financial Services Inc's investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest position. Prospera Financial Services Inc's holdings in Alphabet were worth $89,832,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 528,969,322 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $165,567,398,000 after purchasing an additional 12,531,695 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 229,954,269 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $40,524,841,000 after buying an additional 4,008,374 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 28.0% during the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 53,107,572 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $12,910,542,000 after buying an additional 11,605,785 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 15.7% during the 3rd quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 50,732,476 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $12,333,076,000 after buying an additional 6,874,381 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 2.3% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 45,186,112 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $10,984,744,000 after acquiring an additional 1,034,292 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOGL stock opened at $368.53 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.92, a current ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $162.00 and a 52 week high of $408.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.47 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.23. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $352.70 and a two-hundred day moving average of $327.81.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.64 by $2.47. The business had revenue of $109.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $106.98 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 38.99% and a net margin of 37.92%. On average, research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 8th will be issued a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. This is a positive change from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 8th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is 6.41%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 8,993 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Friday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.89, for a total transaction of $2,481,078.77. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 51,808 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $14,293,309.12. The trade was a 14.79% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder 2019 Gp L.L.C. Gv sold 87,475 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.75, for a total transaction of $2,077,531.25. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 193,016 shares of company stock valued at $17,282,549 over the last ninety days. 11.61% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Trending Headlines about Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet secured a major cloud deal with SpaceX, adding a high-profile customer and boosting the investment case for its AI infrastructure business. SpaceX signs cloud deal with Google
• Positive Sentiment: New Street Research raised its price target on Alphabet to $455 and reiterated a buy rating, signaling continued Wall Street confidence. MarketScreener
• Neutral Sentiment: Reports said Google’s AI search and chatbot products faced criticism after an audit found many chatbot responses on elections were flawed, which may keep pressure on Alphabet’s AI credibility. Over 90% of AI chatbot answers about midterm elections are flawed, stunning analysis shows
• Negative Sentiment: Alphabet’s large equity raise and higher AI capex guidance are still weighing on sentiment because investors are questioning how quickly those investments will pay off. Alphabet is seeking fresh capital as stock's 4-week losing streak tests investor appetite
• Negative Sentiment: Google also faces regulatory pressure in the UK over publisher-content rules in AI search, adding another policy risk for the business. Google search facing UK 'conduct requirement'

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on GOOGL shares. Freedom Capital cut Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Roth Mkm reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $370.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a "market perform" rating and issued a $390.00 target price (up from $345.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price target on Alphabet from $415.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $413.13.

Alphabet Profile

Alphabet Inc is the holding company created in 2015 to organize Google and a portfolio of businesses developing technologies beyond Google's core internet services. Its principal operations are led by Google, which builds and operates consumer-facing products such as Google Search, YouTube, Android, Chrome, Gmail, Google Maps and Google Workspace, as well as advertising platforms (Google Ads and AdSense) that historically generate the majority of its revenue. Google also develops consumer hardware (Pixel phones, Nest smart-home devices, Chromecast) and developer and distribution platforms such as Google Play.

Beyond Google's consumer and advertising businesses, Alphabet invests in enterprise and infrastructure offerings through Google Cloud, which provides cloud computing, data analytics and productivity services to businesses and institutions.

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