Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC Increases Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 10.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 23,325 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,255 shares during the period. Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $3,258,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in GOOGL. OLD National Bancorp IN boosted its stake in Alphabet by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 501,534 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $70,059,000 after purchasing an additional 16,581 shares in the last quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI raised its holdings in Alphabet by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI now owns 1,391,272 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $194,347,000 after buying an additional 3,701 shares during the last quarter. Shikiar Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth approximately $281,000. PSI Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. PSI Advisors LLC now owns 11,716 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,637,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Trust Company N.A bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,229,000. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Down 3.4 %

Shares of GOOGL opened at $166.15 on Tuesday. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $103.71 and a 12-month high of $174.71. The company has a current ratio of 2.15, a quick ratio of 2.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The company has a market capitalization of $2.07 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.05. The business’s 50 day moving average is $148.36 and its 200 day moving average is $141.62.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.49 by $0.40. Alphabet had a net margin of 25.90% and a return on equity of 29.52%. The firm had revenue of $80.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $66.04 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.17 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 6.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 10th.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on GOOGL shares. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Alphabet from $170.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Redburn Atlantic lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Needham & Company LLC upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $160.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $160.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $165.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $189.44.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 660 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.59, for a total value of $94,769.40. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,920 shares in the company, valued at $4,009,032.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, CFO Ruth Porat sold 48,077 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.22, for a total value of $6,597,125.94. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 1,777,106 shares in the company, valued at $243,854,485.32. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 660 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.59, for a total transaction of $94,769.40. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 27,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,009,032.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 253,209 shares of company stock worth $36,711,144 over the last 90 days. 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.