Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Bought by Hartford Funds Management Co LLC

Hartford Funds Management Co LLC raised its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 4.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 27,569 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,167 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up 0.5% of Hartford Funds Management Co LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $5,219,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. LMR Partners LLP acquired a new position in Alphabet during the third quarter worth about $32,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. raised its position in Alphabet by 518.8% during the fourth quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, PayPay Securities Corp raised its position in Alphabet by 36.1% during 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Up 2.0 %

GOOGL opened at $163.89 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.00 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.02. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $183.75 and its 200 day moving average price is $176.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $146.74 and a 12-month high of $207.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. As a group, research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.94%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total transaction of $3,239,868.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 43,981 shares in the company, valued at $8,471,620.22. The trade was a 27.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Ruth Porat sold 17,690 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.48, for a total transaction of $3,245,761.20. Following the sale, the insider now owns 1,449,286 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $265,914,995.28. The trade was a 1.21 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 93,048 shares of company stock valued at $17,374,274 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on GOOGL shares. DZ Bank downgraded shares of 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. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $187.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report 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 report on Monday, January 6th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Ten investment 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 presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $210.59.

Alphabet Company 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.