West Tower Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 3,000 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $568,000. Alphabet accounts for 1.3% of West Tower Group LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest position.
A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of GOOGL. Pettinga Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 10.1% in the third quarter. Pettinga Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,186 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $363,000 after acquiring an additional 201 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 11,283,594 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,871,384,000 after purchasing an additional 337,031 shares in the last quarter. Comgest Global Investors S.A.S. lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 6.8% during the 3rd quarter. Comgest Global Investors S.A.S. now owns 1,568,198 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $260,086,000 after buying an additional 99,968 shares during the last quarter. Cutler Investment Counsel LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Cutler Investment Counsel LLC now owns 3,663 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $607,000 after buying an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Finally, River Street Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 1.6% in the third quarter. River Street Advisors LLC now owns 15,243 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,528,000 after buying an additional 244 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.
Insider Transactions at Alphabet
In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 673 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.33, for a total transaction of $104,537.09. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 15,303 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,377,014.99. This represents a 4.21 % 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, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total value of $33,106.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,813 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,293,285.89. This represents a 2.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 87,297 shares of company stock valued at $15,936,270. 11.55% of the stock is owned by insiders.
Alphabet Price Performance
NASDAQ:GOOGL traded down $6.32 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $150.72. The company's stock had a trading volume of 46,763,615 shares, compared to its average volume of 27,470,814. The company has a market capitalization of $1.84 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $147.22 and a fifty-two week high of $207.05. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $176.24 and a 200-day moving average of $176.77.
Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Alphabet Dividend Announcement
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid 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 0.53%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is presently 9.94%.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on shares of Alphabet from $235.00 to $200.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday. DA Davidson upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Alphabet from $184.00 to $167.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Robert W. Baird reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $205.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, DZ Bank downgraded Alphabet from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $198.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Ten 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $209.13.
Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on Alphabet
About Alphabet
(
Free Report)
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.
See Also
Before you consider Alphabet, you'll want to hear this.
MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Alphabet wasn't on the list.
While Alphabet currently has a Moderate Buy rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.
View The Five Stocks Here
Market volatility creates opportunity. Our analysts have pinpointed 10 stocks perfectly positioned for exceptional growth this spring, even amid economic uncertainty. Don't miss your chance to access this timely research and invest with confidence.
Get This Free Report
