Wilkins Miller Wealth Management LLC Makes New $791,000 Investment in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Wilkins Miller Wealth Management LLC purchased 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 firm purchased 4,178 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $791,000. Alphabet comprises approximately 0.8% of Wilkins Miller Wealth Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest holding.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at $24,383,677,000. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 9.8% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 248,416,916 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $47,025,322,000 after acquiring an additional 22,100,902 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Alphabet by 17.0% during 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 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 valued at $13,635,878,000 after acquiring an additional 10,037,685 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Alphabet by 15.9% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 66,050,135 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $12,503,291,000 after acquiring an additional 9,042,271 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 1,374 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.47, for a total transaction of $238,347.78. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 15,024 shares in the company, valued at $2,606,213.28. This represents a 8.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $1,837,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 261,966 shares of the company's stock, valued at $45,844,050. The trade was a 3.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 164,654 shares of company stock worth $26,793,380. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on GOOGL. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Westpark Capital reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $210.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, May 8th. 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 report on Monday, March 31st. Susquehanna cut their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $225.00 to $220.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $199.75.

Alphabet Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of GOOGL stock traded down $0.83 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $171.53. 18,618,454 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 29,794,731. The firm has a market cap of $2.08 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.27, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $159.04 and a 200 day moving average of $174.73. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $140.53 and a 1 year high of $207.05.

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 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 quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.89 EPS. Analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share 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 paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. This is an increase 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%.

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.