Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Acquired by Plancorp LLC

Plancorp LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 12.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 25,551 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,775 shares during the period. Plancorp LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $4,837,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position 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. Capital City Trust Co. FL lifted its stake in 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 buying an additional 640 shares in the last quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC now owns 23,968 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,975,000 after buying an additional 1,118 shares during the last quarter. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC increased its stake 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Tidemark LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.5% during the third quarter. Tidemark LLC now owns 3,143 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $521,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOGL stock opened at $157.07 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $178.01 and a two-hundred day moving average of $177.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.91 trillion, a PE ratio of 19.51, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $147.22 and a 52 week high of $207.05.

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

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. 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 0.51%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 9.94%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 29,066 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.89, for a total value of $5,374,012.74. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 272,466 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $50,376,238.74. The trade was a 9.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,368 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.55, for a total value of $262,040.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 20,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,961,445.55. The trade was a 6.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 88,665 shares of company stock valued at $16,198,310 over the last 90 days. 11.55% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $205.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. DA Davidson increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $184.00 to $167.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.