Sharpepoint LLC Invests $3.17 Million in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Sharpepoint LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 16,737 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $3,168,000. Alphabet accounts for 2.9% of Sharpepoint LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest holding.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. IronBridge Private Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. IronBridge Private Wealth LLC now owns 18,649 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $3,530,000 after buying an additional 928 shares in the last quarter. Landing Point Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth about $226,000. MML Investors Services LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 1,245,750 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $235,820,000 after purchasing an additional 63,751 shares during the last quarter. Mach 1 Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 14.4% in the fourth quarter. Mach 1 Financial Group LLC now owns 5,997 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,135,000 after purchasing an additional 755 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 1,806,364 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $341,945,000 after purchasing an additional 14,768 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of Alphabet stock traded up $2.68 on Friday, hitting $161.96. The company's stock had a trading volume of 55,915,519 shares, compared to its average volume of 28,549,312. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $162.61 and a 200-day moving average price of $175.44. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $140.53 and a 52-week high of $207.05. The company has a market capitalization of $1.97 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. The business had revenue of $76.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $89.30 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.89 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This is an increase from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.94%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOGL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of Alphabet from $230.00 to $205.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday. Citizens Jmp cut Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Alphabet from $167.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price target on Alphabet from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $199.03.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 29,066 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.89, for a total transaction of $5,374,012.74. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 272,466 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,376,238.74. This represents a 9.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.16, for a total transaction of $5,075,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,685,196 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $419,320,207.36. This represents a 1.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 148,163 shares of company stock valued at $25,361,647 over the last three months. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.