Vista Investment Partners II LLC Purchases Shares of 5,047 Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Vista Investment Partners II LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 5,047 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $955,000.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. LMR Partners LLP bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $32,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 518.8% in the 4th 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 period. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, PayPay Securities Corp grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 36.1% in the 4th quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 245 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, 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 transaction of $33,106.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 7,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,293,285.89. This trade represents a 2.50 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,374 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.47, for a total value of $238,347.78. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 15,024 shares in the company, valued at $2,606,213.28. The trade was a 8.38 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 93,048 shares of company stock valued at $17,374,274. 11.55% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Roth Mkm reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $220.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Alphabet from $187.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Alphabet from $215.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Alphabet from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $210.59.

Alphabet Stock Performance

GOOGL stock opened at $163.99 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $182.57 and its 200-day moving average is $176.51. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The company has a market cap of $2.00 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.02. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $147.22 and a twelve 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 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%. Equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were paid 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 presently 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.