Cullen Investment Group LTD. Buys Shares of 16,078 Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Cullen Investment Group LTD. purchased a new position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 16,078 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,246,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. RWQ Financial Management Services Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 8.2% in the 4th quarter. RWQ Financial Management Services Inc. now owns 61,499 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $8,591,000 after buying an additional 4,664 shares in the last quarter. Ballast Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 9.6% in the third quarter. Ballast Advisors LLC now owns 15,747 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,061,000 after purchasing an additional 1,385 shares during the last quarter. Quantum Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 8.0% during the third quarter. Quantum Financial Advisors LLC now owns 7,623 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $998,000 after purchasing an additional 564 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 4,416,533 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $577,908,000 after purchasing an additional 104,366 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NatWest Group plc boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 239.0% in the 4th quarter. NatWest Group plc now owns 100,793 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $14,080,000 after purchasing an additional 71,057 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Trading Up 1.4 %

GOOGL stock opened at $156.28 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $146.43 and its 200 day moving average is $140.78. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $102.63 and a 12-month high of $160.22. The stock has a market cap of $1.94 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.94, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a current ratio of 2.10, a quick ratio of 2.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The information services provider reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. Alphabet had a return on equity of 27.22% and a net margin of 24.01%. The firm had revenue of $86.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $70.77 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.05 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 6.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on GOOGL. Truist Financial increased their price target on Alphabet from $158.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $160.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Roth Mkm dropped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $166.00 to $164.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Redburn Atlantic raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $168.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $158.71.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $157.41, for a total transaction of $3,541,725.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,303,011 shares in the company, valued at $362,516,961.51. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Alphabet news, CFO Ruth Porat sold 48,077 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.22, for a total value of $6,597,125.94. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 1,777,106 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $243,854,485.32. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $157.41, for a total transaction of $3,541,725.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,303,011 shares in the company, valued at approximately $362,516,961.51. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 251,339 shares of company stock valued at $36,377,482 over the last 90 days. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.