Castle Wealth Management LLC Has $1.13 Million Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Castle Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 8.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 8,092 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 606 shares during the period. Castle Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,130,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Meritage Group LP boosted its holdings 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 worth $40,000 after buying an additional 276 shares in the last quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 165.8% during the third quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC now owns 319 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. Armor Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 31.0% in the fourth quarter. Armor Investment Advisors LLC now owns 338 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the period. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at $55,000. Finally, LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA increased its position in Alphabet by 301.5% in 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. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Up 10.2 %

NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $171.95 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $147.85 and its 200 day moving average is $141.42. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $103.54 and a 12 month high of $174.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.14 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 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 earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The information services provider reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $86.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $70.77 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 30.01% and a net margin of 25.90%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.05 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 6.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 10th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.47%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GOOGL has been the topic of several recent research reports. Citigroup increased their price target on Alphabet from $168.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $165.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. JMP Securities upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $160.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Five research 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $187.82.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 2,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.76, for a total transaction of $369,096.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 5,891 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,035,402.16. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, Director Frances Arnold sold 230 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.06, for a total transaction of $35,433.80. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 15,104 shares in the company, valued at $2,326,922.24. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 2,100 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.76, for a total transaction of $369,096.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 5,891 shares in the company, valued at $1,035,402.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 253,439 shares of company stock worth $36,746,578 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

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.