MFA Wealth Advisors LLC Buys 2,922 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

MFA Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 16.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 21,096 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,922 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up about 1.0% of MFA Wealth Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest position. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $3,993,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. LMR Partners LLP acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the third quarter worth $32,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of 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 worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth $39,000. Denver PWM LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 25.4% during the third quarter. Denver PWM LLC now owns 281 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the third quarter worth $66,000. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $185.19 on Thursday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $2.26 trillion, a P/E ratio of 23.01, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.99. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $192.81 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $175.49. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $130.66 and a one year high of $207.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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%. As a group, analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 9.94%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 37,134 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.02, for a total value of $6,870,532.68. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 282,832 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $52,329,576.64. This represents a 11.61 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.41, for a total transaction of $232,950.47. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 23,515 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,007,191.15. This represents a 5.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 98,919 shares of company stock worth $18,528,318. 11.55% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GOOGL has been the subject of several research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $217.00 target price (up previously from $215.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. DA Davidson raised 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $204.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Ten investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $210.62.

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.