Arvest Investments Inc. Takes $1.03 Million Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Arvest Investments Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 7,360 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,028,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Boston Trust Walden Corp raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 1,580,457 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $220,774,000 after purchasing an additional 33,058 shares during the last quarter. Avitas Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Avitas Wealth Management LLC now owns 132,546 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $18,515,000 after buying an additional 2,432 shares during the period. Quilter Plc grew its position in Alphabet by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Quilter Plc now owns 1,343,341 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $187,718,000 after buying an additional 11,143 shares during the period. Peoples Financial Services CORP. grew its position in Alphabet by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Peoples Financial Services CORP. now owns 16,690 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,331,000 after buying an additional 72 shares during the period. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA grew its position in Alphabet by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 71,472 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $9,984,000 after buying an additional 241 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Price Performance

Alphabet stock opened at $156.14 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $1.94 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.92, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.05. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $144.65 and its 200 day moving average is $139.39. The company has a quick ratio of 2.10, a current ratio of 2.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $102.63 and a 52-week high of $158.56.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The information services provider reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. Alphabet had a net margin of 24.01% and a return on equity of 27.22%. The company had revenue of $86.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $70.77 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.05 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 6.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GOOGL has been the subject of several recent research reports. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating and set a $168.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $175.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday. Rosenblatt Securities cut their target price on shares of Alphabet from $174.00 to $172.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Alphabet from $144.00 to $141.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $180.00 to $173.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $155.61.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.14, for a total value of $3,198,150.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,400,191 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $341,163,148.74. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, Director Frances Arnold sold 230 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.06, for a total value of $35,433.80. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 15,104 shares in the company, valued at $2,326,922.24. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.14, for a total transaction of $3,198,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,400,191 shares in the company, valued at $341,163,148.74. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 250,539 shares of company stock valued at $35,906,259. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.