Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Stock Position Raised by Strategic Financial Concepts LLC

Strategic Financial Concepts LLC lifted its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 17.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 8,615 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,297 shares during the quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,631,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Allworth Financial LP increased its position in Alphabet by 16.3% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 183,146 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $36,331,000 after buying an additional 25,681 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 15.6% during the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 170,874 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $32,346,000 after acquiring an additional 23,021 shares during the last quarter. Little House Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Little House Capital LLC now owns 64,622 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $12,233,000 after acquiring an additional 1,200 shares in the last quarter. Centerpoint Advisory Group bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $320,000. Finally, Palumbo Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 34.5% in the 4th quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,146 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,056,000 after purchasing an additional 4,141 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Down 2.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $168.27 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $130.66 and a 12-month high of $207.05. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $191.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $176.06. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The company has a market cap of $2.05 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.99.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. On average, research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.48%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 9.94%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on GOOGL shares. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Wolfe Research raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Phillip Securities raised shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Loop Capital upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Citizens Jmp lowered Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note 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 issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $210.62.

Insider Activity

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.41, for a total transaction of $232,950.47. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 23,515 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total transaction of $3,239,868.40. Following the sale, the insider now owns 43,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,471,620.22. This represents a 27.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 134,188 shares of company stock valued at $25,036,883 over the last 90 days. 11.55% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.