Paragon Capital Management Ltd Makes New $255,000 Investment in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Paragon Capital Management Ltd bought a new stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 1,692 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $255,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $15,441,917,000. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 5.6% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 227,317,469 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $29,746,764,000 after acquiring an additional 12,070,681 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 493,810,251 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $68,980,354,000 after acquiring an additional 6,374,756 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 39,754.9% in the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 6,025,667 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $841,725,000 after acquiring an additional 6,010,548 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 4,894.1% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 5,445,396 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $7,606,670,000 after purchasing an additional 5,336,359 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 12,084 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.19, for a total transaction of $1,826,979.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 48,717 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,365,523.23. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 12,084 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.19, for a total transaction of $1,826,979.96. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 48,717 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,365,523.23. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.79, for a total value of $105,566.78. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 29,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,532,870.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 135,958 shares of company stock valued at $22,383,553 over the last 90 days. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $179.63 on Monday. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $115.35 and a 12-month high of $180.85. The company has a current ratio of 2.15, a quick ratio of 2.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The company has a market cap of $2.22 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.01. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $170.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $152.72.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.49 by $0.40. The business had revenue of $80.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $66.04 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 25.90% and a return on equity of 29.52%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.17 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.6 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 10th were issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.45%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 12.27%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on GOOGL shares. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Alphabet from $170.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. UBS Group increased their price target on Alphabet from $150.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Roth Mkm boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $164.00 to $202.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Argus raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $170.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $160.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $193.26.

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.