PDS Planning Inc Increases Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

PDS Planning Inc boosted its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 9.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 32,662 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 2,802 shares during the quarter. PDS Planning Inc's holdings in Alphabet were worth $6,183,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 20,990.0% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,186,748 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,171,151,000 after buying an additional 6,157,413 shares during the last quarter. Amundi boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 18.7% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 29,866,698 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $5,792,317,000 after acquiring an additional 4,694,621 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 7.7% during the third 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 last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the third quarter valued at about $513,024,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position 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 valued at $22,154,651,000 after purchasing an additional 2,626,431 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOGL stock traded down $0.03 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $157.04. The stock had a trading volume of 24,682,619 shares, compared to its average volume of 27,382,781. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $147.22 and a 52-week high of $207.05. 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's fifty day simple moving average is $177.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $176.95. The company has a market cap of $1.91 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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 of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.51%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is presently 9.94%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $184.00 to $167.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. DZ Bank lowered shares of Alphabet from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $198.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $205.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Roth Mkm reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $220.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $209.49.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 13th. The shares were 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 owns 21,824 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,142,195.20. This represents a 6.43 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 1,368 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.55, for a total transaction of $262,040.40. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 20,681 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,961,445.55. The trade was a 6.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 88,665 shares of company stock worth $16,198,310. 11.55% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Alphabet

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.