Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. Grows Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. lifted its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 1.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 53,638 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 889 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up 1.1% of Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 19th largest position. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $7,493,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of GOOGL. Auxano Advisors LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Auxano Advisors LLC now owns 25,259 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,528,000 after buying an additional 862 shares during the period. LGL Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. LGL Partners LLC now owns 17,860 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,495,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. Certuity LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 31.3% in the 4th quarter. Certuity LLC now owns 59,032 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $8,383,000 after purchasing an additional 14,061 shares during the period. Islay Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 23.5% during the fourth quarter. Islay Capital Management LLC now owns 12,428 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,736,000 after purchasing an additional 2,367 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. boosted its position in Alphabet by 7.6% during the fourth quarter. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. now owns 120,740 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $16,866,000 after purchasing an additional 8,572 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Alphabet from $165.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Alphabet from $165.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $170.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on Alphabet from $173.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $190.60.

Alphabet Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $169.38 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $151.40 and a 200-day simple moving average of $142.83. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $107.19 and a twelve month high of $174.71. The company has a current ratio of 2.15, a quick ratio of 2.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The company has a market capitalization of $2.09 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.02.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.49 by $0.40. Alphabet had a net margin of 25.90% and a return on equity of 29.52%. The business had revenue of $80.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $66.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.17 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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 issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 10th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 12.27%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.70, for a total value of $2,985,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,332,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $309,548,095.70. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.70, for a total transaction of $2,985,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,332,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $309,548,095.70. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.49, for a total transaction of $93,086.18. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 28,602 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,903,886.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 252,629 shares of company stock worth $37,091,240. Corporate insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

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.