Signaturefd LLC Boosts Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Signaturefd LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 0.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 216,766 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,986 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for 0.8% of Signaturefd LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. Signaturefd LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $41,034,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brown University acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth $5,679,000. Cibc World Markets Corp raised its stake in Alphabet by 42.1% during the fourth quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp now owns 2,967,895 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $561,823,000 after purchasing an additional 878,698 shares during the period. SouthState Corp boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 66,109 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $12,514,000 after purchasing an additional 698 shares during the last quarter. Gray Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Gray Wealth Management Inc. now owns 22,735 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $4,304,000 after buying an additional 832 shares during the period. Finally, Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 19,262 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,646,000 after buying an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Down 4.9 %

GOOGL stock opened at $154.33 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $179.66 and its two-hundred day moving average is $176.72. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $147.22 and a twelve month high of $207.05. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The stock has a market cap of $1.88 trillion, a P/E ratio of 19.17, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.02.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 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%. 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 was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 11,764 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.84, for a total transaction of $1,962,705.76. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 49,037 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,181,333.08. This trade represents a 19.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total transaction of $33,106.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 7,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,293,285.89. This trade represents a 2.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 104,812 shares of company stock worth $19,336,979 in the last quarter. 11.55% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Alphabet from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $205.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Citizens Jmp lowered shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. DZ Bank lowered shares of Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $198.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $187.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $210.59.

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.