Strategent Financial LLC Acquires New Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Strategent Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 1,326 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $251,000. Alphabet comprises about 0.2% of Strategent Financial LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest holding.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 7.7% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 63,667,407 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $10,559,240,000 after acquiring an additional 4,567,275 shares during the period. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $513,024,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 134,030,679 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $22,154,651,000 after acquiring an additional 2,626,431 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 26.9% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 10,064,598 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,669,300,000 after acquiring an additional 2,136,128 shares during the period. Finally, Darsana Capital Partners LP acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $331,700,000. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,834 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.55, for a total transaction of $559,856.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 20,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,085,531.55. This trade represents a 12.05 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.22, for a total value of $291,330.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 23,324 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,529,987.28. This trade represents a 6.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 97,182 shares of company stock worth $18,192,354. Corporate insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on GOOGL shares. Citizens Jmp lowered shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Wolfe Research increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $210.62.

Alphabet Price Performance

Alphabet stock opened at $165.87 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.02 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.60, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.02. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $136.13 and a 52-week high of $207.05. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $187.71 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $176.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its 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%. On average, equities analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.94%.

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.