Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Bought by Berkeley Capital Partners LLC

Berkeley Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 4.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 8,775 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 413 shares during the period. Berkeley Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,661,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Pettinga Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 10.1% in the 3rd quarter. Pettinga Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,186 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $363,000 after acquiring an additional 201 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 3.1% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 11,283,594 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,871,384,000 after purchasing an additional 337,031 shares during the period. Cardano Risk Management B.V. increased its position in Alphabet by 1.1% during the third quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 1,511,083 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $250,613,000 after purchasing an additional 15,724 shares during the last quarter. Claro Advisors LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 16.5% during the third quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 37,307 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $6,187,000 after purchasing an additional 5,271 shares during the period. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 776,885 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $128,846,000 after purchasing an additional 28,612 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.2 %

NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $154.64 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $178.83 and its 200 day moving average price is $177.10. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $147.22 and a 12 month high of $207.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84. The company has a market capitalization of $1.89 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.02.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued 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 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 paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.94%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup cut their price target 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. Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. DA Davidson upped their price target on Alphabet from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $205.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Ten 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $209.49.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 11,764 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.84, for a total transaction of $1,962,705.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 49,037 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,181,333.08. This represents a 19.35 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Ruth Porat sold 17,690 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,449,286 shares in the company, valued at approximately $265,914,995.28. The trade was a 1.21 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 87,992 shares of company stock valued at $16,093,773 over the last quarter. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Alphabet

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.