Willis Investment Counsel Has $22.85 Million Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Willis Investment Counsel boosted its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 0.9% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 120,697 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,025 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up approximately 1.5% of Willis Investment Counsel’s holdings, making the stock its 24th biggest position. Willis Investment Counsel’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $22,848,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. LMR Partners LLP bought a new stake in Alphabet in the third quarter valued at $32,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. grew its stake 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. bought a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. Denver PWM LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 25.4% during the 3rd quarter. Denver PWM LLC now owns 281 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the period. Finally, Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America bought a new position in Alphabet in the third quarter worth approximately $66,000. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.41, for a total value of $232,950.47. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 23,515 shares in the company, valued at $4,007,191.15. This represents a 5.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.67, for a total transaction of $3,975,075.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,061,806 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $364,259,266.02. The trade was a 1.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 89,529 shares of company stock valued at $16,600,078. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GOOGL has been the subject of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Alphabet from $215.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $232.00 to $229.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Pivotal Research boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Citizens Jmp cut shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $210.62.

Alphabet Stock Down 0.6 %

GOOGL opened at $185.32 on Wednesday. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $130.66 and a 12 month high of $207.05. The company has a market cap of $2.27 trillion, a PE ratio of 23.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The company has a 50 day moving average of $191.90 and a 200 day moving average of $174.76.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.91 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.94%.

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.