Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV Boosts Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV lifted its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 0.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 111,486 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 738 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises about 4.0% of Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $21,104,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new position in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Alphabet by 518.8% during the 4th quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth about $39,000. PayPay Securities Corp grew its holdings in Alphabet by 36.1% during the 4th quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 245 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Anderson Financial Strategies LLC bought a new position in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth about $49,000. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. KeyCorp increased their price objective on Alphabet from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their target price on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $159.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Tigress Financial lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Roth Mkm reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $199.75.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value of $105,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,192,275. This represents a 8.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.56, for a total value of $5,153,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,717,696 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $430,917,877.76. This trade represents a 1.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 164,654 shares of company stock worth $26,793,380. Company insiders own 11.64% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Down 1.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $168.47 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.04 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $158.57 and its two-hundred day moving average is $174.83. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $140.53 and a 1 year high of $207.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share (EPS) 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 analyst estimates of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.89 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th will be paid 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 positive change from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.36%.

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.