SJS Investment Consulting Inc. Purchases 1,617 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

SJS Investment Consulting Inc. increased its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 14.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 13,155 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 1,617 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for about 0.3% of SJS Investment Consulting Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. SJS Investment Consulting Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $2,034,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. PayPay Securities Corp grew its stake in Alphabet by 36.1% in the fourth quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 245 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC bought a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Navigoe LLC bought a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $51,000. Finally, Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $53,000. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Performance

GOOGL traded down $1.65 during trading on Thursday, hitting $175.70. The stock had a trading volume of 20,879,613 shares, compared to its average volume of 30,364,105. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $162.29 and a 200-day moving average price of $174.57. The firm has a market cap of $2.13 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $140.53 and a one year high of $207.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. The firm 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 previous year, the firm earned $1.89 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be issued a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. This is a boost from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.48%. Alphabet's payout ratio is currently 9.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.56, for a total value of $5,153,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,717,696 shares of the company's stock, valued at $430,917,877.76. The trade was a 1.18% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 673 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 15,303 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,377,014.99. This trade represents a 4.21% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 195,570 shares of company stock valued at $32,003,532 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 11.64% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on GOOGL. KeyCorp raised their price target on Alphabet from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Bank of America raised 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. Susquehanna decreased their price target on Alphabet from $225.00 to $220.00 and set a "positive" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 25th. JMP Securities restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their price target on Alphabet from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $199.75.

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.