Sherman Asset Management Inc. Acquires Shares of 19,140 Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Sherman Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 19,140 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,623,000. Alphabet comprises approximately 3.3% of Sherman Asset Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest position.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bennett Selby Investments LP increased its position in Alphabet by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Bennett Selby Investments LP now owns 1,354 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $256,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the period. Macroview Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC now owns 1,293 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $245,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Conrad Siegel Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Alphabet by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Conrad Siegel Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 9,845 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,864,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 2,381 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $457,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Addison Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 7,527 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,425,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOGL stock opened at $165.49 on Friday. 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 Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $140.03 and a fifty-two week high of $207.05. The company has a market capitalization of $2.02 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.56, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.02. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $185.70 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $176.38.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (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%. Analysts expect 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. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.48%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 9.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,834 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.55, for a total value of $559,856.70. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 20,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,085,531.55. The trade was a 12.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.80, for a total value of $284,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 21,824 shares in the company, valued at $4,142,195.20. This trade represents a 6.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 95,882 shares of company stock valued at $17,934,130 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOGL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Alphabet from $232.00 to $220.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, December 23rd. DZ Bank lowered Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $198.00 target price for the company. in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their target price on Alphabet from $210.00 to $208.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $210.62.

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.