Wallace Advisory Group LLC Buys 244 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Wallace Advisory Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 1.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 13,126 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 244 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises 1.7% of Wallace Advisory Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Wallace Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $2,485,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Conrad Siegel Investment Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Alphabet by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Conrad Siegel Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 9,845 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,864,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the period. Denver PWM LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 25.4% during the 3rd quarter. Denver PWM LLC now owns 281 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the period. First PREMIER Bank increased its holdings in Alphabet by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 1,655 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $275,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares during the period. Cutler Investment Counsel LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Cutler Investment Counsel LLC now owns 3,663 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $607,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares during the period. Finally, PCA Investment Advisory Services Inc. increased its holdings in Alphabet by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. PCA Investment Advisory Services Inc. now owns 12,891 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,440,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet Trading Up 3.1 %

Shares of GOOGL opened at $195.55 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.39 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.94, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a quick ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $183.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $173.04. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $130.66 and a twelve month high of $201.42.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. The business had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $72.85 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.55 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th were issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.41%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.61%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Scotiabank raised shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. China Renaissance raised shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Robert W. Baird reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $205.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $217.00 price target (up previously from $215.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, January 10th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $208.15.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.42, for a total value of $234,331.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 26,349 shares in the company, valued at $4,516,745.58. This trade represents a 4.93 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 441 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.06, for a total transaction of $75,437.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 16,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,820,779.40. The trade was a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 133,387 shares of company stock worth $24,368,654. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.