Sigma Planning Corp Increases Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Sigma Planning Corp raised its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 1.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 82,388 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,026 shares during the quarter. Sigma Planning Corp’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $15,596,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. LMR Partners LLP acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Alphabet by 518.8% in 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 acquiring an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, PayPay Securities Corp increased its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.22, for a total transaction of $291,330.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 23,324 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,529,987.28. This trade represents a 6.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed 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 stock was sold at an average price of $173.47, for a total transaction of $238,347.78. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 15,024 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,606,213.28. This represents a 8.38 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 134,316 shares of company stock worth $25,062,887. 11.55% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GOOGL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Alphabet from $187.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Wedbush lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Robert W. Baird restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $205.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Citizens Jmp lowered Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their target price on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $210.62.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of GOOGL opened at $173.86 on Friday. 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 firm’s 50-day moving average is $188.21 and its two-hundred day moving average is $176.40. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $134.00 and a twelve month high of $207.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.12 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.60, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.99.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share 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, research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.46%. 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.