Knuff & Co LLC Increases Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Knuff & Co LLC increased its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 1.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,709 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 205 shares during the period. Knuff & Co LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $2,406,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Schear Investment Advisers LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 17.0% during the 3rd quarter. Schear Investment Advisers LLC now owns 33,751 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $5,598,000 after buying an additional 4,905 shares during the last quarter. Permanent Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at $273,000. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. raised its stake in Alphabet by 27.9% during the 3rd quarter. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 25,275 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $4,192,000 after buying an additional 5,516 shares during the last quarter. Glass Wealth Management Co LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Glass Wealth Management Co LLC now owns 37,054 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $7,014,000 after buying an additional 1,580 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Olistico Wealth LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 9.1% during the 4th quarter. Olistico Wealth LLC now owns 8,981 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,700,000 after buying an additional 746 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,340 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total value of $270,787.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 17,848 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,606,723.84. This represents a 6.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the company’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. This trade represents a 2.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 93,048 shares of company stock worth $17,374,274 over the last three months. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on GOOGL shares. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. DA Davidson upped their price objective on Alphabet from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Wolfe Research upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $232.00 to $229.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $210.59.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $163.99 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.00 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.02. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $147.22 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. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $182.57 and a 200 day moving average of $176.65.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.