Uncommon Cents Investing LLC Increases Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Uncommon Cents Investing LLC raised its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 3.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,939 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the quarter. Uncommon Cents Investing LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $556,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp raised its position in Alphabet by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 222,555,548 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $36,910,838,000 after purchasing an additional 743,369 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 134,030,679 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $22,154,651,000 after acquiring an additional 2,626,431 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Alphabet by 7.7% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 63,667,407 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $10,559,240,000 after acquiring an additional 4,567,275 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in Alphabet by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 49,857,900 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $8,268,933,000 after purchasing an additional 1,237,385 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Alphabet by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 37,233,079 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $6,175,106,000 after purchasing an additional 523,416 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at $8,471,620.22. This trade represents a 27.66 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 441 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.06, for a total value of $75,437.46. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 16,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,820,779.40. This represents a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 133,387 shares of company stock worth $24,368,654 in the last 90 days. 11.55% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on GOOGL. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Alphabet from $187.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Phillip Securities upgraded shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $210.00 price objective (up previously from $200.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Alphabet from $204.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $208.67.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Alphabet stock opened at $197.98 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $130.66 and a 1-year high of $202.29. The company’s 50-day moving average is $185.46 and its 200 day moving average is $173.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.42 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.95.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $72.85 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.55 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.03 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th were paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 10.61%.

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.