Whelan Financial Buys 430 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Whelan Financial grew its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 12.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,939 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 430 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up approximately 0.3% of Whelan Financial’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. Whelan Financial’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $746,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $24,383,677,000. FMR LLC increased its position in Alphabet by 9.8% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 248,416,916 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $47,025,322,000 after buying an additional 22,100,902 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 17.0% during 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 buying an additional 10,135,430 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 16.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 72,033,086 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $13,635,878,000 after buying an additional 10,037,685 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 15.9% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 66,050,135 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $12,503,291,000 after acquiring an additional 9,042,271 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Price Performance

Alphabet stock opened at $166.54 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.02 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $158.20 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $175.00. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $140.53 and a 12 month high of $207.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. The business had revenue of $76.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $89.30 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.89 EPS. Analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS 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 issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. This is a positive change from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 9.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 673 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.33, for a total transaction of $104,537.09. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 15,303 shares in the company, valued at $2,377,014.99. This represents a 4.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total transaction of $33,106.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 7,813 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,293,285.89. The trade was a 2.50% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 129,744 shares of company stock valued at $20,968,366 over the last 90 days. 11.64% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Alphabet from $210.00 to $185.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on Alphabet from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. UBS Group set a $195.00 price objective on Alphabet in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on Alphabet from $225.00 to $192.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $199.75.

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.