Prostatis Group LLC Buys 1,654 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Prostatis Group LLC increased its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 21.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 9,361 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 1,654 shares during the quarter. Prostatis Group LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,772,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 9.8% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 248,416,916 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $47,025,322,000 after buying an additional 22,100,902 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $24,383,677,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in Alphabet by 8.3% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 98,638,127 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $18,672,198,000 after purchasing an additional 7,574,417 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in Alphabet by 16.2% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 72,033,086 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $13,635,878,000 after purchasing an additional 10,037,685 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Alphabet by 17.0% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 69,616,854 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $13,178,470,000 after acquiring an additional 10,135,430 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GOOGL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on Alphabet from $235.00 to $200.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Bank of America increased their price target on Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. JMP Securities reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Susquehanna lowered their price objective on Alphabet from $225.00 to $220.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Alphabet from $225.00 to $192.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $199.75.

Alphabet Trading Down 0.3%

GOOGL stock traded down $0.50 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $171.86. The company's stock had a trading volume of 29,308,201 shares, compared to its average volume of 29,861,527. The company has a market cap of $2.09 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $140.53 and a 12 month high of $207.05. The business's 50 day moving average price is $159.04 and its 200 day moving average price is $174.73. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. The business had revenue of $76.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.30 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.89 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm 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 dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. This is a positive change from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.36%.

Insider Activity

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 1,374 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.47, for a total value of $238,347.78. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 11,764 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.84, for a total value of $1,962,705.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 49,037 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,181,333.08. This represents a 19.35% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 164,654 shares of company stock valued at $26,793,380 in the last ninety days. 11.55% of the stock is currently 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.