North Forty Two & Co. Invests $504,000 in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

North Forty Two & Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 2,665 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $504,000.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. LMR Partners LLP acquired a new position in Alphabet in the third quarter worth approximately $32,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. raised its position in Alphabet by 518.8% during the fourth quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, PayPay Securities Corp grew its position in Alphabet by 36.1% in the fourth quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 245 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.80, for a total transaction of $284,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 21,824 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,142,195.20. This trade represents a 6.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,368 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.55, for a total transaction of $262,040.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 20,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,961,445.55. This trade represents a 6.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 87,992 shares of company stock worth $16,097,111. Corporate insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Alphabet from $215.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. DZ Bank downgraded Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $198.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 target price 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 given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $210.59.

Alphabet Stock Down 4.9 %

Shares of GOOGL opened at $154.33 on Monday. 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 50-day moving average price of $179.66 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $177.10. The stock has a market cap of $1.88 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.02. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $147.22 and a 12 month high of $207.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. 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.