WCG Wealth Advisors LLC Acquires 3,718 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

WCG Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 3.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 102,214 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 3,718 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises approximately 1.3% of WCG Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings, making the stock its 20th biggest position. WCG Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $19,349,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 9.8% during 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 purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $24,383,677,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in Alphabet by 8.3% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 98,638,127 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $18,672,198,000 after acquiring an additional 7,574,417 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position 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 acquiring an additional 10,037,685 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 17.0% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 69,616,854 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $13,178,470,000 after acquiring an additional 10,135,430 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 1,374 shares of the company'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 sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 15,024 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,606,213.28. The trade was a 8.38% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the director now directly owns 261,966 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $45,844,050. This trade represents a 3.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 164,654 shares of company stock valued at $26,793,380. 11.64% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GOOGL has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $235.00 to $200.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Truist Financial lowered their price target on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $189.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $178.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Ten equities 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $199.75.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOGL stock traded up $3.75 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $172.22. 20,232,406 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 29,713,867. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $140.53 and a fifty-two week high of $207.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.09 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $158.67 and a 200-day moving average price of $174.76. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current 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 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 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 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. This is a positive change from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.36%.

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.