Leavell Investment Management Inc. Purchases 2,183 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Leavell Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 6.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 37,186 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 2,183 shares during the quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $7,039,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of GOOGL. Bennett Selby Investments LP lifted its stake in Alphabet by 4.0% in the fourth 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 last quarter. Conrad Siegel Investment Advisors Inc. raised its holdings 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 during the period. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC raised its holdings 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 during the period. Denver PWM LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 25.4% during the 3rd quarter. Denver PWM LLC now owns 281 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the period. Finally, Ignite Planners LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Ignite Planners LLC now owns 15,078 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,892,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, insider Ruth Porat sold 17,690 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.48, for a total transaction 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 1,340 shares of the firm'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 transaction of $270,787.20. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 17,848 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,606,723.84. This represents a 6.98 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 134,299 shares of company stock worth $25,055,751 over the last three months. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GOOGL has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Alphabet from $232.00 to $229.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. DA Davidson boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their target price on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $210.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. 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 company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $210.62.

Alphabet Trading Down 2.7 %

NASDAQ GOOGL traded down $4.90 during trading on Friday, hitting $179.66. 35,094,289 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 28,166,218. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $192.46 and a two-hundred day moving average of $175.81. The firm has a market cap of $2.19 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.32, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.99. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $130.66 and a 12-month high of $207.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS 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 issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.45%. 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.