Invst LLC Boosts Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Invst LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 2.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 25,987 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 512 shares during the period. Invst LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $4,919,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Cache Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth about $6,495,000. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth about $89,168,000. Pinney & Scofield Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth about $464,000. Parr Mcknight Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth about $3,346,000. Finally, WCG Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. WCG Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 102,214 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $19,349,000 after acquiring an additional 3,718 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $168.47 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $158.57 and its 200-day moving average price is $174.88. 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 company has a market cap of $2.04 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.93, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $140.53 and a 52-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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. The firm had revenue of $76.49 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.89 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th will be issued a $0.21 dividend. This is an increase 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.50%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 11,764 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the insider now owns 49,037 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,181,333.08. This trade represents a 19.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.56, for a total transaction of $5,153,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,717,696 shares in the company, valued at approximately $430,917,877.76. The trade was a 1.18% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over 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 Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on GOOGL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $180.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Oppenheimer increased 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. Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $159.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Ten 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. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.