Paradigm Financial Partners LLC Boosts Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Paradigm Financial Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 0.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 69,529 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 514 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for 2.4% of Paradigm Financial Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Paradigm Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $9,713,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Meritage Group LP raised its position in Alphabet by 1,061.5% in the third quarter. Meritage Group LP now owns 302 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 276 shares in the last quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 165.8% during the 3rd quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC now owns 319 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 199 shares during the period. Armor Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 31.0% in the fourth quarter. Armor Investment Advisors LLC now owns 338 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the period. IAG Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 55.9% during the fourth quarter. IAG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 343 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Valued Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at $55,000. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on GOOGL shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $165.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on Alphabet from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $165.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $190.60.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOGL stock opened at $167.24 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $2.08 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $150.14 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $142.36. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $103.97 and a one year high of $174.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 2.15 and a quick ratio of 2.10.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by $0.40. Alphabet had a return on equity of 29.52% and a net margin of 25.90%. The firm had revenue of $80.54 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $66.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.17 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.57 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 10th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.29, for a total transaction of $3,291,525.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,377,691 shares in the company, valued at $347,832,416.39. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.73, for a total transaction of $119,784.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,164 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,072,665.72. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.29, for a total transaction of $3,291,525.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,377,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $347,832,416.39. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 275,129 shares of company stock valued at $40,382,765. Company insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

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.