Wesleyan Assurance Society Purchases 69,145 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Wesleyan Assurance Society boosted its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 19.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 433,945 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 69,145 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises approximately 6.3% of Wesleyan Assurance Society’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Wesleyan Assurance Society’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $82,154,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Rockbridge Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at about $3,119,000. Optivise Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 8.0% in the 4th quarter. Optivise Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,464 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,035,000 after acquiring an additional 403 shares during the period. Community Bank N.A. grew its position in Alphabet by 6.4% in the fourth quarter. Community Bank N.A. now owns 46,173 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $8,741,000 after acquiring an additional 2,790 shares in the last quarter. Premier Fund Managers Ltd raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 30.0% during the fourth quarter. Premier Fund Managers Ltd now owns 61,792 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $11,816,000 after purchasing an additional 14,262 shares during the period. Finally, Absolute Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 14.0% during the fourth quarter. Absolute Capital Management LLC now owns 2,096 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $401,000 after purchasing an additional 258 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $166.54 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.02 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $158.20 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $175.00. 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 issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. The company had revenue of $76.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $89.30 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.89 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be issued a $0.21 dividend. This is a positive change from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.50%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 9.36%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on GOOGL shares. Oppenheimer lifted 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. Wedbush set a $190.00 target price on Alphabet and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Alphabet from $167.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Susquehanna decreased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $225.00 to $220.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $185.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $199.75.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,374 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was 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 directly owns 15,024 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,606,213.28. This trade represents a 8.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 11,764 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.84, for a total value of $1,962,705.76. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 49,037 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,181,333.08. This represents a 19.35% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 129,744 shares of company stock worth $20,968,366 over the last ninety days. 11.64% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.