Barden Capital Management Inc. Takes $2.61 Million Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Barden Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 13,808 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,614,000. Alphabet comprises approximately 2.2% of Barden Capital Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest holding.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 8.2% in the fourth quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 107,464 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $20,343,000 after purchasing an additional 8,143 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Family Wealth Counselors L.L.C. raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 81.7% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Family Wealth Counselors L.L.C. now owns 2,220 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $420,000 after purchasing an additional 998 shares during the last quarter. Callan Family Office LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1,413.9% in the fourth quarter. Callan Family Office LLC now owns 110,788 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $20,972,000 after purchasing an additional 103,470 shares during the last quarter. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC now owns 27,569 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $5,219,000 after purchasing an additional 1,167 shares during the last quarter. Finally, E Fund Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 53.5% in the fourth quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. now owns 98,078 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $18,566,000 after purchasing an additional 34,176 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet Stock Up 2.0 %

GOOGL stock opened at $163.89 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $2.00 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.02. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $183.75 and a 200 day simple moving average of $176.47. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $146.74 and a 52 week high of $207.05. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 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%. Sell-side analysts anticipate 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 paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.94%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on GOOGL shares. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $232.00 to $229.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $232.00 to $220.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. DZ Bank cut shares of Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $198.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $187.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $210.59.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total transaction of $33,106.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 7,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,293,285.89. The trade was a 2.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,340 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total value of $270,787.20. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 17,848 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,606,723.84. The trade was a 6.98 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 93,048 shares of company stock valued at $17,374,274 over the last quarter. 11.55% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.