Rainey & Randall Wealth Advisors Inc. Makes New $595,000 Investment in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Rainey & Randall Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 3,142 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $595,000.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Pettinga Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 10.1% in the third quarter. Pettinga Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,186 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $363,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. Forsta AP Fonden grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 8.8% in the third quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 1,599,400 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $265,260,000 after purchasing an additional 129,100 shares in the last quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.2% in the third quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 299,943 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $49,746,000 after purchasing an additional 6,344 shares in the last quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 10.9% in the third quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN now owns 2,510 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $416,000 after purchasing an additional 247 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 21,228.1% in the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 716,199 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $118,782,000 after purchasing an additional 712,841 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $173.86 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $134.00 and a 1 year high of $207.05. The company has a market cap of $2.12 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $188.21 and its 200 day moving average is $176.40.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.46%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.94%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,340 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total transaction of $270,787.20. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 17,848 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,606,723.84. This represents a 6.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 37,134 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.02, for a total value of $6,870,532.68. Following the transaction, the director now owns 282,832 shares in the company, valued at $52,329,576.64. This trade represents a 11.61 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 134,316 shares of company stock worth $25,062,887. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on GOOGL shares. Robert W. Baird reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $205.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $187.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on Alphabet from $232.00 to $229.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $210.62.

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.