Milestone Asset Management Group LLC Makes New Investment in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Milestone Asset Management Group LLC bought a new position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 11,625 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,201,000. Alphabet accounts for approximately 2.0% of Milestone Asset Management Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest position.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of GOOGL. Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Alphabet by 518.8% in 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 purchasing an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth about $39,000. PayPay Securities Corp increased its holdings in Alphabet by 36.1% in the 4th quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 245 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Anderson Financial Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at about $49,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Down 0.3%

GOOGL stock opened at $172.36 on Thursday. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $140.53 and a twelve month high of $207.05. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $159.04 and its 200-day moving average is $174.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.09 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.89 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors 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 0.49%. This is an increase 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 (DPR) is presently 9.36%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now directly owns 6,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,192,275. This trade represents a 8.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,374 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.47, for a total value of $238,347.78. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 15,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,606,213.28. This represents a 8.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 164,654 shares of company stock valued at $26,793,380. 11.55% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Alphabet from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. UBS Group set a $195.00 price target on Alphabet in a research note on Friday, April 25th. KeyCorp increased their price target on Alphabet from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Bank of America increased their price target on Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Alphabet from $167.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $199.75.

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.