Keener Financial Planning LLC Grows Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Keener Financial Planning LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 25.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,860 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 380 shares during the quarter. Keener Financial Planning LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $352,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. Bennett Selby Investments LP boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Bennett Selby Investments LP now owns 1,354 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $256,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Conrad Siegel Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Conrad Siegel Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 9,845 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,864,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 2,381 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $457,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Denver PWM LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 25.4% in the 3rd quarter. Denver PWM LLC now owns 281 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ignite Planners LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Ignite Planners LLC now owns 15,078 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,892,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on GOOGL. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Alphabet from $187.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on Alphabet from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Alphabet from $232.00 to $229.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Alphabet from $215.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $210.62.

Alphabet Stock Down 2.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $179.66 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.19 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.99. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $130.66 and a twelve month high of $207.05. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $192.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $175.93. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. On average, equities analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business 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. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.94%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Ruth Porat sold 17,690 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.48, for a total transaction of $3,245,761.20. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,449,286 shares in the company, valued at $265,914,995.28. This trade represents a 1.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total value of $3,239,868.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 43,981 shares in the company, valued at $8,471,620.22. This represents a 27.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 134,299 shares of company stock valued at $25,055,751 in the last 90 days. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Alphabet Company 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.