Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Bought by Liberty Capital Management Inc.

Liberty Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 1.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 61,761 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 595 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises 2.6% of Liberty Capital Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest position. Liberty Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $11,691,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. LMR Partners LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter worth about $32,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 518.8% in 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 buying an additional 166 shares during the period. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. Denver PWM LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 25.4% in the third quarter. Denver PWM LLC now owns 281 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the period. Finally, Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter worth about $66,000. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on GOOGL. Citigroup decreased their target price on Alphabet from $232.00 to $229.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on Alphabet from $210.00 to $208.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $217.00 price target (up previously from $215.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Citizens Jmp downgraded Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, KeyCorp increased their price target on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $210.62.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.8 %

GOOGL opened at $185.19 on Thursday. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $130.66 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 stock has a market cap of $2.26 trillion, a P/E ratio of 23.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.99. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $192.81 and its 200 day moving average price is $175.49.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly 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%. As a group, research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 23,515 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,007,191.15. This trade represents a 5.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 29,066 shares of the 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 272,466 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $50,376,238.74. The trade was a 9.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 98,919 shares of company stock valued at $18,528,318. 11.55% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.