Wedmont Private Capital Raises Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Wedmont Private Capital grew its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 9.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 85,992 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 7,602 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for about 0.9% of Wedmont Private Capital's portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest position. Wedmont Private Capital's holdings in Alphabet were worth $16,514,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of GOOGL. LMR Partners LLP purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Denver PWM LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the 2nd quarter worth about $41,000. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the 2nd quarter valued at about $53,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter valued at about $66,000. Finally, Mendota Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 19.0% in the third quarter. Mendota Financial Group LLC now owns 401 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $67,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of Alphabet stock traded down $1.03 on Monday, hitting $191.01. The stock had a trading volume of 21,779,337 shares, compared to its average volume of 24,045,980. The stock has a market cap of $2.34 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $130.66 and a 52-week high of $201.42. The company's 50 day moving average price is $183.05 and its 200 day moving average price is $172.99.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. The business had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $72.85 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.55 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th were issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. Alphabet's payout ratio is currently 10.61%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GOOGL has been the topic of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Phillip Securities raised Alphabet to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Loop Capital raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $208.15.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.30, for a total value of $3,741,750.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,106,806 shares in the company, valued at $350,361,837.80. The trade was a 1.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 2,834 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.23, for a total value of $473,929.82. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 26,349 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,406,343.27. This trade represents a 9.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 154,387 shares of company stock worth $27,748,931 over the last 90 days. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.