West Tower Group LLC Invests $568,000 in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

West Tower Group LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 3,000 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $568,000. Alphabet comprises 1.3% of West Tower Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest position.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Bennett Selby Investments LP raised its holdings in Alphabet by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Bennett Selby Investments LP now owns 1,354 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $256,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC now owns 1,293 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $245,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the period. Conrad Siegel Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Conrad Siegel Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 9,845 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,864,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 2,381 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $457,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the period. Finally, Addison Advisors LLC increased its position in Alphabet by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 7,527 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,425,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,340 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was 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 directly owns 17,848 shares in the company, valued at $3,606,723.84. This trade represents a 6.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 11,764 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.84, for a total value of $1,962,705.76. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 49,037 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,181,333.08. This trade represents a 19.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 87,992 shares of company stock valued at $16,097,111 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Down 4.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $154.33 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $1.88 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.17, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.02. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $147.22 and a fifty-two 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’s 50 day moving average price is $179.66 and its 200-day moving average price is $177.10.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (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%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.52%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.94%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. DZ Bank cut shares of Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $198.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. KeyCorp decreased their price target on Alphabet from $220.00 to $202.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $205.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Roth Mkm reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $220.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Wolfe Research lifted their target price on Alphabet from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus 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.