Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Acquired by Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC

Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 8.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 107,464 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 8,143 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up approximately 0.8% of Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest holding. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $20,343,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in GOOGL. Schear Investment Advisers LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 17.0% during the third quarter. Schear Investment Advisers LLC now owns 33,751 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $5,598,000 after purchasing an additional 4,905 shares during the last quarter. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 27.9% during the third quarter. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 25,275 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $4,192,000 after purchasing an additional 5,516 shares during the last quarter. Glass Wealth Management Co LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Glass Wealth Management Co LLC now owns 37,054 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $7,014,000 after purchasing an additional 1,580 shares during the last quarter. Olistico Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 9.1% during the fourth quarter. Olistico Wealth LLC now owns 8,981 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,700,000 after purchasing an additional 746 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Centaurus Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 22.9% during the third quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 61,540 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $10,206,000 after purchasing an additional 11,481 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on GOOGL. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $232.00 to $220.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, DA Davidson upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $210.59.

Alphabet Trading Up 2.0 %

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $163.89 on Thursday. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $146.74 and a 1 year high of $207.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84. The company has a market capitalization of $2.00 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.36, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.02. The company’s fifty day moving average is $183.75 and its two-hundred day moving average is $176.47.

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

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 9.94%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now owns 43,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,471,620.22. The trade was a 27.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,368 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.55, for a total transaction of $262,040.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 20,681 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,961,445.55. The trade was a 6.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 93,048 shares of company stock valued at $17,374,274. Insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

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.