Americana Partners LLC Grows Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Americana Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 40.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 151,408 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 43,920 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises 1.2% of Americana Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest holding. Americana Partners LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $28,662,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of GOOGL. LMR Partners LLP acquired a new position in Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at $32,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Alphabet by 518.8% in the 4th quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 166 shares during the period. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. PayPay Securities Corp increased its stake in Alphabet by 36.1% in the 4th quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 245 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. Finally, Denver PWM LLC increased its stake 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 buying an additional 57 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of Alphabet 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 transaction, the insider now owns 43,981 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,471,620.22. This trade represents a 27.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.41, for a total value of $232,950.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 23,515 shares in the company, valued at $4,007,191.15. The trade was a 5.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 134,309 shares of company stock worth $25,057,490. 11.55% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on GOOGL shares. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $232.00 to $229.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Alphabet from $232.00 to $220.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Wolfe Research upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their price target on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $208.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $210.62.

Alphabet Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of GOOGL stock opened at $170.33 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $190.58 and its 200-day simple moving average is $176.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $130.66 and a 1-year high of $207.05. The firm has a market cap of $2.08 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.16, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.99.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 9.94%.

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.