Putney Financial Group LLC Acquires Shares of 41,154 Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Putney Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 41,154 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $7,790,000. Alphabet makes up 5.4% of Putney Financial Group LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of GOOGL. Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 518.8% during the fourth quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth $39,000. PayPay Securities Corp boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 36.1% during the fourth quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 245 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Anderson Financial Strategies LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at $49,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.56, for a total transaction of $5,153,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,717,696 shares in the company, valued at $430,917,877.76. This represents a 1.18% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 1,374 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.47, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 8.38% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 164,654 shares of company stock valued at $26,793,380 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 11.64% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL traded up $4.43 on Tuesday, reaching $172.90. 37,917,640 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 29,780,742. 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 firm has a market cap of $2.10 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a 50-day moving average of $158.67 and a 200-day moving average of $174.76.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. The firm had revenue of $76.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.89 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. This is a boost from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.36%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on GOOGL. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $180.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $178.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, UBS Group set a $195.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Ten investment 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $199.75.

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.