Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Holdings Boosted by Xponance Inc.

Xponance Inc. increased its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 0.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,525,560 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 6,882 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up 2.6% of Xponance Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $288,789,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GOOGL. Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new position in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. LMR Partners LLP purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the third quarter worth about $32,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. increased its position in Alphabet by 518.8% in the 4th quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 166 shares during the period. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, PayPay Securities Corp lifted its position in Alphabet by 36.1% during the 4th quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 245 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on GOOGL. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Alphabet from $215.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Citigroup cut their price objective 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. Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $205.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $210.59.

Alphabet Price Performance

NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $154.33 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $147.22 and a 12-month high of $207.05. The firm has a market cap of $1.88 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.02. The company’s 50-day moving average is $179.66 and its two-hundred day moving average is $176.92. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

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

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.94%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total transaction of $33,106.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 7,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,293,285.89. The trade was a 2.50 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,340 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total value of $270,787.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 17,848 shares in the company, valued at $3,606,723.84. This trade represents a 6.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 104,812 shares of company stock worth $19,336,979. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by 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.