Compass Planning Associates Inc Acquires New Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 161 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $30,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of GOOGL. Schear Investment Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 17.0% in the third quarter. Schear Investment Advisers LLC now owns 33,751 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $5,598,000 after purchasing an additional 4,905 shares during the period. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. raised its position in Alphabet by 27.9% during the 3rd quarter. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 25,275 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $4,192,000 after purchasing an additional 5,516 shares in the last quarter. abrdn plc lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 10.7% in the 3rd quarter. abrdn plc now owns 6,305,717 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,037,196,000 after buying an additional 611,233 shares during the period. Olistico Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 9.1% during the 4th quarter. Olistico Wealth LLC now owns 8,981 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,700,000 after buying an additional 746 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Centaurus Financial Inc. increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 22.9% during the third quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 61,540 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $10,206,000 after buying an additional 11,481 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $173.02 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $2.11 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.49, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.99. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $130.85 and a 52 week high of $207.05. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $189.06 and its 200 day moving average price is $176.38. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

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

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.46%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 9.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Ruth Porat sold 17,690 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.48, for a total value of $3,245,761.20. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,449,286 shares in the company, valued at approximately $265,914,995.28. The trade was a 1.21 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,374 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.47, for a total value of $238,347.78. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 15,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,606,213.28. The trade was a 8.38 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 134,316 shares of company stock valued at $25,062,887 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. DA Davidson upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, December 23rd. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Ten research 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.