Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Purchased by Covestor Ltd

Covestor Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 4.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,611 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 210 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises 0.5% of Covestor Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest position. Covestor Ltd’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $874,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of GOOGL. Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 518.8% during the fourth quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at $39,000. PayPay Securities Corp boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 36.1% in the fourth quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 245 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Finally, Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth $53,000. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Down 1.7 %

Alphabet stock opened at $156.31 on Wednesday. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $140.53 and a 52 week high of $207.05. The stock has a market cap of $1.91 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.42, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $167.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $176.14. 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 (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.94%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 673 shares of the business’s 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 directly owns 15,303 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,377,014.99. The trade was 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 available at this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 owns 7,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,293,285.89. This trade represents a 2.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 115,663 shares of company stock worth $20,286,447 over the last 90 days. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on GOOGL shares. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $205.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. KeyCorp reduced their target price on Alphabet from $220.00 to $202.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $208.00 to $185.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $204.72.

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.