Verdence Capital Advisors LLC Has $9.55 Million Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 1.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 68,373 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,146 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up about 0.9% of Verdence Capital Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $9,551,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of GOOGL. FMR LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 5.6% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 227,317,469 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $29,746,764,000 after purchasing an additional 12,070,681 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 4,894.1% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 5,445,396 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $7,606,670,000 after purchasing an additional 5,336,359 shares in the last quarter. J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet in the third quarter valued at approximately $634,465,000. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board bought a new stake in Alphabet in the third quarter valued at approximately $601,545,000. Finally, Lone Pine Capital LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet in the third quarter valued at approximately $407,367,000. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $171.95 on Monday. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $103.54 and a 52-week high of $174.71. The stock has a market cap of $2.14 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.58 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 quick ratio of 2.10 and a current ratio of 2.10.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The information services provider reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. Alphabet had a net margin of 25.90% and a return on equity of 30.01%. The business had revenue of $86.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $70.77 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.05 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 6.82 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 2,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.76, for a total transaction of $369,096.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,891 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,035,402.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 800 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.56, for a total transaction of $127,648.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 7,991 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,275,043.96. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 2,100 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.76, for a total transaction of $369,096.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 5,891 shares in the company, valued at $1,035,402.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 253,439 shares of company stock valued at $36,746,578. 0.88% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on GOOGL. Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $173.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $141.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $187.82.

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.