21,606 Shares in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Purchased by ZEGA Investments LLC

ZEGA Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 21,606 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $4,326,000. Alphabet accounts for approximately 1.1% of ZEGA Investments LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 16th biggest position.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of GOOGL. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 3.1% in the 3rd 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 buying an additional 337,031 shares during the period. Capital City Trust Co. FL grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Capital City Trust Co. FL now owns 65,586 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $10,877,000 after purchasing an additional 640 shares during the period. Drive Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC now owns 23,968 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,975,000 after purchasing an additional 1,118 shares in the last quarter. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC now owns 22,305 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,699,000 after buying an additional 672 shares during the period. Finally, Tidemark LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 2.5% in the third quarter. Tidemark LLC now owns 3,143 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $521,000 after buying an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,368 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total transaction of $33,106.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,813 shares in the company, valued at $1,293,285.89. This trade represents a 2.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 88,665 shares of company stock worth $16,198,310 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Up 1.6 %

GOOGL opened at $157.07 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $178.01 and its 200-day moving average is $177.09. The company has a market cap of $1.91 trillion, a P/E ratio of 19.51, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.02. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $147.22 and a 1-year high of $207.05. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

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

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.94%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on GOOGL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Alphabet from $232.00 to $220.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Alphabet from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $235.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “neutral” rating and set a $205.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $209.49.

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.