Advance Capital Management Inc. Boosts Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Advance Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 3.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 8,903 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 272 shares during the period. Advance Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,685,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Lantz Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 10.8% in the second quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 4,622 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $842,000 after purchasing an additional 452 shares during the last quarter. Spectrum Wealth Advisory Group LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $218,000. Vance Wealth Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter. Vance Wealth Inc. now owns 3,089 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $563,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 38.4% in the second quarter. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. now owns 2,917 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $531,000 after purchasing an additional 810 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameritas Advisory Services LLC increased its position in Alphabet by 0.6% in the second quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 46,276 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $8,429,000 after purchasing an additional 287 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on GOOGL. China Renaissance raised shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Phillip Securities raised Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Alphabet from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Alphabet from $204.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Roth Mkm upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $206.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $206.82.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, Director Frances Arnold sold 441 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.06, for a total transaction of $75,437.46. Following the transaction, the director now owns 16,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,820,779.40. This represents a 2.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,368 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.55, for a total transaction of $262,040.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 20,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,961,445.55. The trade was a 6.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 155,887 shares of company stock valued at $27,996,356. Corporate insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL traded up $5.08 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $196.87. 28,335,315 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 19,960,061. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $180.24 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $172.46. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $130.66 and a 1 year high of $201.42. The company has a market cap of $2.41 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.11, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a current ratio of 1.95.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $72.85 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.55 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 10.61%.

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.