Providence First Trust Co Acquires 1,675 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Providence First Trust Co raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 79.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,779 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,675 shares during the quarter. Providence First Trust Co’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $715,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. LMR Partners LLP purchased a new position in Alphabet in the third quarter valued at about $32,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. grew its stake 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 purchasing an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, PayPay Securities Corp boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 36.1% in the fourth quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 245 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related 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 value of $3,239,868.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 43,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,471,620.22. This represents a 27.66 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total value 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. This trade represents a 2.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 95,882 shares of company stock valued at $17,934,130. 11.55% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on GOOGL shares. Wedbush raised their price target on Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Robert W. Baird reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $205.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. DZ Bank downgraded Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $198.00 price target for the company. in a report on Thursday, February 6th. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Ten 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 company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $210.62.

Alphabet Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $165.49 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $140.03 and a 1 year high of $207.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.02 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.02. 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 business’s 50 day moving average price is $185.70 and its 200-day moving average price is $176.38.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. 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%.

About Alphabet

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.