Putney Financial Group LLC Takes Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Putney Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 41,154 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $7,790,000. Alphabet comprises 5.4% of Putney Financial Group LLC's holdings, making the stock its 4th biggest position.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rockbridge Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth about $3,119,000. Optivise Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 8.0% during the 4th quarter. Optivise Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,464 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,035,000 after acquiring an additional 403 shares during the period. Community Bank N.A. lifted its position in Alphabet by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. Community Bank N.A. now owns 46,173 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $8,741,000 after acquiring an additional 2,790 shares during the period. Premier Fund Managers Ltd lifted its position in Alphabet by 30.0% during the 4th quarter. Premier Fund Managers Ltd now owns 61,792 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $11,816,000 after acquiring an additional 14,262 shares during the period. Finally, Absolute Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 14.0% during the 4th quarter. Absolute Capital Management LLC now owns 2,096 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $401,000 after acquiring an additional 258 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Trading Down 0.3%

NASDAQ:GOOGL traded down $0.54 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $172.36. The company had a trading volume of 34,389,655 shares, compared to its average volume of 29,799,215. The company has a market cap of $2.09 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. 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 Inc. has a 1 year low of $140.53 and a 1 year high of $207.05. The company has a 50-day moving average of $158.87 and a 200 day moving average of $174.75.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. The business had revenue of $76.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.89 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 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. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. This is a boost from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.36%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on Alphabet from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. DA Davidson decreased their price objective on Alphabet from $200.00 to $160.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on Alphabet from $235.00 to $200.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 31st. Mizuho decreased their price objective on Alphabet from $230.00 to $205.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $178.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, April 25th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $199.75.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value of $1,837,500.00. Following the completion of 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 673 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.33, for a total value of $104,537.09. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 15,303 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,377,014.99. The trade was a 4.21% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 164,654 shares of company stock worth $26,793,380 in the last three months. 11.55% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.