V Square Quantitative Management LLC Purchases 5,867 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

V Square Quantitative Management LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 5.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 110,237 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,867 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises 3.0% of V Square Quantitative Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. V Square Quantitative Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $20,868,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of GOOGL. First Merchants Corp grew its stake in Alphabet by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. First Merchants Corp now owns 204,227 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $38,660,000 after purchasing an additional 548 shares in the last quarter. Littlejohn Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,260,000. Palacios Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,051,000. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA now owns 20,322 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,847,000 after buying an additional 824 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arcus Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Arcus Capital Partners LLC now owns 7,292 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,380,000 after buying an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOGL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. China Renaissance upgraded Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Citigroup reduced their target price on Alphabet from $232.00 to $229.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $210.62.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Ruth Porat sold 17,690 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.48, for a total value 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 approximately $265,914,995.28. This trade represents a 1.21 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,340 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total value of $270,787.20. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 17,848 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,606,723.84. This represents a 6.98 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 134,299 shares of company stock valued at $25,055,751. Corporate insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $175.42 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $2.14 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.99. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $130.66 and a 1 year high of $207.05. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $191.72 and a 200-day moving average price of $176.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84.

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, topping 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%. Equities analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.94%.

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.