Leavell Investment Management Inc. Increases Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Leavell Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 6.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 37,186 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,183 shares during the quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $7,039,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. LMR Partners LLP purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in 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 valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares during the period. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Denver PWM LLC increased 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 valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $66,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.41, for a total transaction of $232,950.47. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 23,515 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,007,191.15. This represents a 5.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed 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 that occurred on 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 transaction, the insider now owns 1,449,286 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $265,914,995.28. This trade represents a 1.21 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 134,299 shares of company stock valued at $25,055,751 over the last quarter. 11.55% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Stock Down 2.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $179.66 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.19 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.32, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.99. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $130.66 and a 12-month high of $207.05. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $192.46 and a 200 day moving average price of $175.81. 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 announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. Sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.45%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.94%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on GOOGL. Roth Mkm lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $206.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $232.00 to $220.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research 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. China Renaissance raised shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Ten 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. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $210.62.

Alphabet Company 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.