Principle Wealth Partners LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Principle Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 0.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 87,979 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 403 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up approximately 1.1% of Principle Wealth Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest position. Principle Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $12,290,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Meritage Group LP raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1,061.5% in the 3rd quarter. Meritage Group LP now owns 302 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 276 shares during the period. Macroview Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 165.8% in the 3rd quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC now owns 319 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares during the last quarter. Armor Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 31.0% in the fourth quarter. Armor Investment Advisors LLC now owns 338 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the period. IAG Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 55.9% during the fourth quarter. IAG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 343 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Valued Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at $55,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.29, for a total value of $3,291,525.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,377,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $347,832,416.39. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, CFO Ruth Porat sold 48,077 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.22, for a total transaction of $6,597,125.94. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.29, for a total value of $3,291,525.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,377,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $347,832,416.39. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 275,129 shares of company stock worth $40,382,765 over the last 90 days. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Alphabet from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Alphabet from $165.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, KeyCorp upped their price target on Alphabet from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $190.60.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $167.24 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $2.08 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.02. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $103.97 and a fifty-two week high of $174.71. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $150.14 and its 200-day simple moving average is $142.36. The company has a quick ratio of 2.10, a current ratio of 2.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.49 by $0.40. Alphabet had a return on equity of 29.52% and a net margin of 25.90%. The business had revenue of $80.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $66.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.17 EPS. Analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 10th.

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.