Chase Investment Counsel Corp Buys 13,331 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Chase Investment Counsel Corp raised its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 34.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 51,664 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,331 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for about 3.1% of Chase Investment Counsel Corp’s holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Chase Investment Counsel Corp’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $9,779,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. LMR Partners LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth $32,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of 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 worth $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 worth $39,000. Finally, PayPay Securities Corp boosted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $232.00 to $229.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. DA Davidson raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Wedbush raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $210.62.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total transaction of $33,106.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 7,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,293,285.89. The trade was a 2.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 29,066 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.89, for a total transaction of $5,374,012.74. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 272,466 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $50,376,238.74. This trade represents a 9.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 95,882 shares of company stock valued at $17,934,130. Insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $165.49 on Friday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $2.02 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.02. The company’s fifty day moving average is $185.70 and its two-hundred day moving average is $176.38. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $140.03 and a 52-week high of $207.05.

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, 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%. Equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s dividend 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.