Baldwin Investment Management LLC Has $6.45 Million Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Baldwin Investment Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 1.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 34,045 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 666 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises approximately 0.8% of Baldwin Investment Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding. Baldwin Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $6,445,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 518.8% in 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 during the last quarter. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth $39,000. PayPay Securities Corp grew its stake in Alphabet by 36.1% in the 4th quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 245 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Anderson Financial Strategies LLC bought a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth $49,000. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $164.03 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.99 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $160.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $175.41. 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 Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $140.53 and a fifty-two week high of $207.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. The company had revenue of $76.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.89 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current 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 0.51%. This is a positive change from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.36%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on GOOGL. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on Alphabet from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $178.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, April 25th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $200.00 price target (down from $230.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have given a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $199.46.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,690 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.51, for a total transaction of $3,281,671.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 43,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,997,521.61. This represents a 29.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,340 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total value of $270,787.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 17,848 shares in the company, valued at $3,606,723.84. The trade was a 6.98 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 148,164 shares of company stock worth $25,357,390. 11.55% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Alphabet

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.