New York Life Investment Management LLC Increases Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

New York Life Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 0.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 852,090 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,207 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for 1.6% of New York Life Investment Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest position. New York Life Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $161,301,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. LMR Partners LLP bought a new stake in Alphabet during the 3rd quarter valued at $32,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Alphabet by 518.8% during 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 last quarter. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, PayPay Securities Corp grew its holdings in Alphabet by 36.1% in 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. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,834 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.55, for a total transaction of $559,856.70. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 20,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,085,531.55. This represents a 12.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 95,682 shares of company stock worth $17,901,024 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOGL opened at $167.11 on Thursday. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $138.99 and a 12 month high of $207.05. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $186.76 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $176.48. 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 company has a market cap of $2.04 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.02.

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

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued 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 dividend yield of 0.48%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 9.94%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on GOOGL shares. Wedbush upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Alphabet from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Robert W. Baird reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $205.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on Alphabet from $210.00 to $208.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $210.62.

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.