Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Stake Increased by Auxano Advisors LLC

Auxano Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 3.0% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 32,621 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 947 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up approximately 1.6% of Auxano Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest position. Auxano Advisors LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $6,175,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of GOOGL. Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. LMR Partners LLP purchased a new position in Alphabet in the third quarter valued at about $32,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. increased its position in 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 worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, PayPay Securities Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 36.1% during the 4th quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 245 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wedbush raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. DA Davidson raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $187.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price target on Alphabet from $232.00 to $229.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $210.62.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total value of $3,239,868.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 43,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,471,620.22. This trade represents a 27.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,368 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was 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 owns 20,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,961,445.55. This trade represents a 6.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 93,048 shares of company stock worth $17,374,274. Insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of GOOGL stock opened at $165.49 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.02 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.02. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $140.03 and a 12-month high of $207.05. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average price of $185.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $176.56.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. Research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is presently 9.94%.

Alphabet Company 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.