Quantum Financial Planning Services Inc. Makes New $498,000 Investment in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Quantum Financial Planning Services Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 2,633 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $498,000. Alphabet accounts for about 0.3% of Quantum Financial Planning Services Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 17th biggest holding.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 43,005.6% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 18,743,594 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $31,086,250,000 after buying an additional 18,700,111 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 587.4% during the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 10,690,326 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,772,991,000 after acquiring an additional 9,135,056 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in Alphabet by 116.4% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 8,670,225 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,437,957,000 after purchasing an additional 4,662,809 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Alphabet by 7.7% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 63,667,407 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $10,559,240,000 after purchasing an additional 4,567,275 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 115.4% during the 2nd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 6,939,456 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,264,022,000 after purchasing an additional 3,718,420 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.67, for a total value of $3,975,075.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,061,806 shares in the company, valued at approximately $364,259,266.02. This trade represents a 1.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 37,134 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.02, for a total value of $6,870,532.68. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 282,832 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $52,329,576.64. This represents a 11.61 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 89,529 shares of company stock worth $16,600,078. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on GOOGL. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Alphabet from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $204.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Roth Mkm lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $206.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Alphabet from $232.00 to $229.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $210.62.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOGL stock opened at $185.34 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The stock has a market cap of $2.27 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.99. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $130.66 and a 12 month high of $207.05. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $191.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $174.64.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.43%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 10.61%.

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.