Kestra Advisory Services LLC Has $108.06 Million Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Kestra Advisory Services LLC lessened its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 7.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 570,829 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 47,641 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises about 0.6% of Kestra Advisory Services LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. Kestra Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $108,058,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Pettinga Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings 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 valued at $363,000 after buying an additional 201 shares during the period. Impax Asset Management Group plc raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 6.8% in the 3rd 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. lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 11,283,594 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,871,384,000 after purchasing an additional 337,031 shares during the period. Apollon Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Apollon Financial LLC now owns 49,192 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $8,158,000 after purchasing an additional 147 shares in the last quarter. Finally, OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd grew its stake in Alphabet by 15.7% during the third quarter. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd now owns 801,353 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $132,351,000 after purchasing an additional 108,787 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $165.06 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.01 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.02. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $181.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $176.78. 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 1 year low of $147.22 and a 1 year high of $207.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly 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 return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. On average, analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 9.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total transaction 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total value of $3,239,868.40. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 43,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,471,620.22. The trade was a 27.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 93,048 shares of company stock valued at $17,374,274. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on GOOGL shares. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $205.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Citizens Jmp cut shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $232.00 to $220.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, KeyCorp dropped their price target on Alphabet from $220.00 to $202.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $210.59.

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.