Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Stock Position Lifted by Phillips Financial Management LLC

Phillips Financial Management LLC raised its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 5.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,869 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 356 shares during the quarter. Phillips Financial Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,300,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. LMR Partners LLP bought a new stake in Alphabet in the third quarter worth approximately $32,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 518.8% during the 4th quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, PayPay Securities Corp lifted 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 last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GOOGL has been the topic of several recent research reports. DA Davidson raised their target price on Alphabet from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Alphabet from $215.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Wedbush increased their price target on Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Robert W. Baird restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $205.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Alphabet from $232.00 to $229.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $210.59.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, insider Ruth Porat sold 17,690 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,449,286 shares in the company, valued at approximately $265,914,995.28. This represents a 1.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 43,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,471,620.22. This represents a 27.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 93,048 shares of company stock valued at $17,374,274 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $170.56 on Wednesday. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $147.22 and a 52-week 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 business has a fifty day moving average of $181.72 and a two-hundred day moving average of $176.86. The stock has a market cap of $2.08 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.19, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.02.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced 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, equities research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.47%. 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.