Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC Has $43.68 Million Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 1.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 230,790 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,261 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up about 3.2% of Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $43,676,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in GOOGL. Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. LMR Partners LLP bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 518.8% during the fourth quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth $39,000. Finally, PayPay Securities Corp boosted its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Price Performance

NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $162.24 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $1.98 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.02. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $180.49 and its 200-day moving average price is $176.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $147.22 and a 52-week high of $207.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal 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. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 9.94%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Ruth Porat sold 17,690 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.48, for a total transaction of $3,245,761.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 1,449,286 shares in the company, valued at approximately $265,914,995.28. This represents a 1.21 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 29,066 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.89, for a total value of $5,374,012.74. Following the transaction, the director now owns 272,466 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,376,238.74. This trade represents a 9.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 104,812 shares of company stock worth $19,336,979. Corporate insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOGL has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target 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. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $205.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Roth Mkm restated a “buy” rating and issued a $220.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $210.59.

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.