Embree Financial Group Boosts Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Embree Financial Group boosted its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 2.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 63,370 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,220 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for 1.6% of Embree Financial Group’s holdings, making the stock its 12th biggest position. Embree Financial Group’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $9,800,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Rockbridge Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $3,119,000. Optivise Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 8.0% during the fourth quarter. Optivise Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,464 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,035,000 after acquiring an additional 403 shares during the last quarter. Community Bank N.A. increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 6.4% during the fourth quarter. Community Bank N.A. now owns 46,173 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $8,741,000 after acquiring an additional 2,790 shares during the last quarter. Premier Fund Managers Ltd increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 30.0% during the fourth quarter. Premier Fund Managers Ltd now owns 61,792 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $11,816,000 after acquiring an additional 14,262 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Absolute Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 14.0% in the fourth quarter. Absolute Capital Management LLC now owns 2,096 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $401,000 after purchasing an additional 258 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on GOOGL shares. Westpark Capital reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. BNP Paribas Exane reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $172.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $180.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $200.00 price target (down from $230.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Wedbush set a $190.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-seven have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $199.95.

Alphabet Trading Up 2.9%

Shares of GOOGL stock opened at $178.53 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.17 trillion, a PE ratio of 19.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $140.53 and a 1-year high of $207.05. The business has a 50-day moving average of $166.45 and a 200 day moving average of $174.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.77 and a quick ratio of 1.77.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.54% and a net margin of 30.86%. The business had revenue of $76.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $89.30 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.89 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th were given a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 9th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.47%. This is a positive change from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.36%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 673 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.33, for a total value of $104,537.09. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 15,303 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,377,014.99. This trade represents a 4.21% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.90, for a total value of $32,380.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 7,613 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,232,544.70. This trade represents a 2.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 216,195 shares of company stock valued at $35,764,898. Corporate insiders own 11.64% of the company’s stock.

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.