Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) is Choate Investment Advisors’ 9th Largest Position

Choate Investment Advisors raised its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 1.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 320,589 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,150 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up 1.5% of Choate Investment Advisors’ portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Choate Investment Advisors’ holdings in Alphabet were worth $60,692,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. LMR Partners LLP purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the third quarter worth about $32,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 518.8% in the fourth quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 166 shares during the period. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, PayPay Securities Corp lifted its position 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 in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,368 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.55, for a total value of $262,040.40. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 20,681 shares in the company, valued at $3,961,445.55. The trade was a 6.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total transaction of $33,106.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 7,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,293,285.89. The trade was a 2.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 104,812 shares of company stock valued at $19,336,979. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Down 1.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $162.24 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $180.49 and its 200 day moving average is $176.68. The stock has a market cap of $1.98 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.02. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $147.22 and a 52-week 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.

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

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.94%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GOOGL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Wedbush boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $210.59.

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.