Prairie Sky Financial Group LLC Buys 1,562 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Prairie Sky Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 74.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,672 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,562 shares during the quarter. Prairie Sky Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $568,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of GOOGL. Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new position in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. PayPay Securities Corp lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 36.1% in the 4th quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 245 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Navigoe LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $51,000. Finally, Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth approximately $53,000. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Up 1.4%

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $178.60 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.17 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $161.08 and a 200-day simple moving average of $174.49. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $140.53 and a 1 year high of $207.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. The company had revenue of $76.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $89.30 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.89 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share 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 given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.47%. This is an increase from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.36%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other 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 completion of 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 document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total transaction of $33,106.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 7,813 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,293,285.89. The trade was a 2.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 195,770 shares of company stock worth $32,036,638. Company insiders own 11.64% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on GOOGL shares. Wedbush set a $190.00 target price on Alphabet and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Truist Financial cut their target price on Alphabet from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. DA Davidson reduced their target price on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $160.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on Alphabet from $225.00 to $192.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $180.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Ten equities research 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $199.75.

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.