Ascent Capital Management LLC Makes New $789,000 Investment in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Ascent Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 4,168 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $789,000. Alphabet comprises about 0.8% of Ascent Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 21st biggest holding.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. LMR Partners LLP acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. raised its stake 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 valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 166 shares during the period. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, PayPay Securities Corp boosted its position in Alphabet by 36.1% during the fourth quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 245 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total transaction of $3,239,868.40. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 43,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,471,620.22. This represents a 27.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,368 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 20,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,961,445.55. The trade was a 6.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 104,812 shares of company stock worth $19,336,979. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on GOOGL. DZ Bank lowered shares of Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $198.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “neutral” rating and set a $205.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Robert W. Baird reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $205.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. KeyCorp decreased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $202.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, DA Davidson increased their target price on Alphabet from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $210.59.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of GOOGL opened at $162.24 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $180.49 and a 200-day moving average of $176.68. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $147.22 and a 1 year high of $207.05. The company has a market capitalization of $1.98 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.