Physicians Financial Services Inc. Raises Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Physicians Financial Services Inc. boosted its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 84,581 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,219 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up approximately 4.9% of Physicians Financial Services Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 5th largest position. Physicians Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $16,011,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. LMR Partners LLP bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Alphabet by 518.8% during the fourth 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 last quarter. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth approximately $39,000. PayPay Securities Corp boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 36.1% during the 4th quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 245 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Denver PWM LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 25.4% during 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 during the period. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, 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 transaction of $3,239,868.40. Following the sale, the insider now owns 43,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,471,620.22. This trade represents a 27.66 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,374 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.47, for a total value of $238,347.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 15,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,606,213.28. The trade was a 8.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 134,316 shares of company stock worth $25,062,887 in the last ninety days. 11.55% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GOOGL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Alphabet from $232.00 to $220.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, DZ Bank downgraded shares of Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $198.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $210.62.

Alphabet Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of GOOGL stock opened at $173.02 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $189.06 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $176.38. The company has a market cap of $2.11 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.99. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $130.85 and a 1 year high of $207.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. Research analysts predict 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 given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.