Mason Investment Advisory Services Inc. Increases Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Mason Investment Advisory Services Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 4.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,519 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the quarter. Mason Investment Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $477,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 20,990.0% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,186,748 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,171,151,000 after buying an additional 6,157,413 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 7.7% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 63,667,407 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $10,559,240,000 after buying an additional 4,567,275 shares in the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter valued at approximately $513,024,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 134,030,679 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $22,154,651,000 after buying an additional 2,626,431 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 26.9% in the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 10,064,598 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,669,300,000 after buying an additional 2,136,128 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOGL stock opened at $164.29 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The company has a market capitalization of $2.00 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.02. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $146.08 and a 12-month high of $207.05. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $185.05 and its 200 day moving average price is $176.58.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.94%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,368 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.55, for a total transaction of $262,040.40. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 20,681 shares in the company, valued at $3,961,445.55. This represents a 6.20 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 29,066 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.89, for a total value of $5,374,012.74. Following the sale, the director now owns 272,466 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,376,238.74. This trade represents a 9.64 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 93,048 shares of company stock worth $17,374,274. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on GOOGL shares. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on Alphabet from $210.00 to $208.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Wedbush boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Wolfe Research lifted their price target on Alphabet from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. 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, the stock 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.