Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Acquired by PDS Planning Inc

PDS Planning Inc lifted its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 9.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 32,662 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,802 shares during the period. PDS Planning Inc’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $6,183,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. boosted its stake in Alphabet by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. now owns 18,304 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,465,000 after purchasing an additional 476 shares during the period. Mystic Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 6.7% in the fourth quarter. Mystic Asset Management Inc. now owns 26,663 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $5,047,000 after buying an additional 1,677 shares during the last quarter. Leelyn Smith LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Leelyn Smith LLC now owns 41,055 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $7,772,000 after buying an additional 556 shares during the period. RD Lewis Holdings Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $573,000. Finally, Haven Capital Group Inc. acquired a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at about $4,750,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,368 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.55, for a total value of $262,040.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 20,681 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 43,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,471,620.22. This trade represents a 27.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 104,812 shares of company stock worth $19,336,979. Insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOGL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Alphabet from $232.00 to $229.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. KeyCorp decreased their price target on Alphabet from $220.00 to $202.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Roth Mkm reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note 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 given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $210.59.

Alphabet Stock Down 4.9 %

GOOGL opened at $154.33 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $179.66 and its 200 day simple moving average is $176.92. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $147.22 and a 52 week high of $207.05. The firm 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. 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 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 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 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.