Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC Increases Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 81.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,329 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,849 shares during the quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,198,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. LMR Partners LLP purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $32,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. lifted 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 in the last quarter. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,000. PayPay Securities Corp lifted 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Denver PWM LLC lifted 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $170.33 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $130.66 and a 12-month high of $207.05. The company has a market cap of $2.08 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $190.58 and a 200 day moving average price of $176.20.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. Research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total value of $3,239,868.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 43,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,471,620.22. This represents a 27.66 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Ruth Porat sold 17,690 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.48, for a total transaction of $3,245,761.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,449,286 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $265,914,995.28. The trade was a 1.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 134,309 shares of company stock valued at $25,057,490 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on GOOGL. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Alphabet from $187.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Alphabet from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, December 12th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald cut their price target on Alphabet from $215.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $210.62.

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.