Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Bought by Exeter Financial LLC

Exeter Financial LLC raised its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 18.3% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 1,619 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the period. Exeter Financial LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $250,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in GOOGL. Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new position in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 166 shares during the period. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,000. PayPay Securities Corp grew its holdings in Alphabet by 36.1% during the fourth quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 245 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the period. Finally, Anderson Financial Strategies LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth $49,000. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GOOGL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Susquehanna reduced their target price on Alphabet from $225.00 to $220.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 25th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $235.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “neutral” rating and set a $189.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Ten 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $199.75.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 11,764 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.84, for a total transaction of $1,962,705.76. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 49,037 shares in the company, valued at $8,181,333.08. This represents a 19.35% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were 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 owns 6,813 shares in the company, valued at $1,192,275. The trade was a 8.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 164,533 shares of company stock valued at $26,772,774 in the last 90 days. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Alphabet Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of GOOGL opened at $171.86 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $159.12 and a two-hundred day moving average of $174.68. 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 company has a market capitalization of $2.09 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $140.53 and a fifty-two week high of $207.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. The business had revenue of $76.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 firm earned $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 business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. 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. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.