Patrick Mauro Investment Advisor INC. Has $5.59 Million Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Patrick Mauro Investment Advisor INC. grew its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 9.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 29,553 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,601 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up 3.2% of Patrick Mauro Investment Advisor INC.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. Patrick Mauro Investment Advisor INC.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $5,594,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Alphabet by 7.7% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 63,667,407 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $10,559,240,000 after purchasing an additional 4,567,275 shares in the last quarter. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 23,533 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $4,455,000 after purchasing an additional 207 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. raised its position in Alphabet by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. now owns 1,582 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $299,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Capital & Planning LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 34.3% in the fourth quarter. Capital & Planning LLC now owns 4,383 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $830,000 after purchasing an additional 1,119 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 7.8% in the fourth quarter. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC now owns 46,084 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $8,724,000 after purchasing an additional 3,321 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of GOOGL stock opened at $168.56 on Thursday. 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 $2.05 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.94, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $158.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $174.88.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. The company had revenue of $76.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.89 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.50%. This is a boost from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.36%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, insider Ruth Porat sold 17,690 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 1,449,286 shares in the company, valued at $265,914,995.28. This trade represents a 1.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.56, for a total transaction of $5,153,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,717,696 shares in the company, valued at approximately $430,917,877.76. The trade was a 1.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 129,744 shares of company stock valued at $20,968,366 over the last three months. 11.64% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on GOOGL shares. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. UBS Group set a $195.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $185.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Westpark Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $159.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $199.75.

About Alphabet

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.