Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Raises Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 2.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,679,383 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 69,732 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for approximately 0.7% of Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest position. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $507,207,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. DecisionMap Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth about $1,616,000. CFO4Life Group LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. CFO4Life Group LLC now owns 27,049 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $5,120,000 after acquiring an additional 484 shares during the last quarter. Balboa Wealth Partners raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Balboa Wealth Partners now owns 16,331 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,091,000 after acquiring an additional 622 shares during the period. Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. now owns 1,475,937 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $279,394,000 after acquiring an additional 29,635 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HBK Sorce Advisory LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 62,399 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $11,812,000 after purchasing an additional 2,016 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total value of $33,106.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 7,813 shares in the company, valued at $1,293,285.89. This trade represents a 2.50 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $8,471,620.22. This trade represents a 27.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 93,048 shares of company stock valued at $17,374,274 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOGL stock opened at $170.56 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $181.72 and its 200 day moving average price is $176.86. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $2.08 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.19, 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.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.94%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on GOOGL. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “neutral” rating and set a $205.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Alphabet from $187.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. DA Davidson boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $205.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.