Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Stock Holdings Lifted by Moran Wealth Management LLC

Moran Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 1.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 92,907 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 897 shares during the period. Moran Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $17,587,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pettinga Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 10.1% in the third quarter. Pettinga Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,186 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $363,000 after acquiring an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc grew its position in Alphabet by 6.8% in the third quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 728,575 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $120,834,000 after acquiring an additional 46,677 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Alphabet by 3.1% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 11,283,594 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,871,384,000 after acquiring an additional 337,031 shares in the last quarter. Holistic Planning LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 18.2% in the third quarter. Holistic Planning LLC now owns 10,895 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,807,000 after acquiring an additional 1,675 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Provident Trust Co. grew its position in Alphabet by 1.1% in the third quarter. Provident Trust Co. now owns 3,476,456 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $576,570,000 after acquiring an additional 36,190 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total value of $33,106.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 7,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,293,285.89. This represents a 2.50 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,340 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total transaction of $270,787.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 17,848 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,606,723.84. The trade was a 6.98 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 93,048 shares of company stock valued at $17,374,274. 11.55% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $163.99 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $182.57 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $176.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $147.22 and a 52-week high of $207.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.00 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.02.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. On average, analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 9.94%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on GOOGL. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $232.00 to $229.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. DZ Bank cut shares of Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $198.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Roth Mkm restated a “buy” rating and issued a $220.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Wedbush boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Ten equities research 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 company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.