Paladin Advisory Group LLC Lowers Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Paladin Advisory Group LLC cut its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 1.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 11,053 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 120 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for about 1.3% of Paladin Advisory Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 25th largest holding. Paladin Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,544,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of GOOGL. Meritage Group LP raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 1,061.5% during the 3rd quarter. Meritage Group LP now owns 302 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 276 shares in the last quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 165.8% during the 3rd quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC now owns 319 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. Armor Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 31.0% during the 4th quarter. Armor Investment Advisors LLC now owns 338 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at $55,000. Finally, LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 301.5% during the 4th quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 522 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $73,000 after buying an additional 392 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Trading Up 10.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $171.95 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $103.54 and a 1 year high of $174.71. The stock has a market cap of $2.14 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.05. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $147.85 and a 200 day moving average of $141.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 2.10 and a quick ratio of 2.10.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The information services provider reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $86.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $70.77 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 25.90% and a return on equity of 30.01%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.05 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 6.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 10th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.47%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.27%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.70, for a total value of $2,985,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,332,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $309,548,095.70. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, Director Frances Arnold sold 230 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.06, for a total transaction of $35,433.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 15,104 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,326,922.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.70, for a total transaction of $2,985,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,332,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $309,548,095.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 253,439 shares of company stock valued at $36,746,578. Insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GOOGL has been the topic of several research reports. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Wedbush increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $175.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $168.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $187.82.

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.