Castleark Management LLC Raises Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Castleark Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 5.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 387,514 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 21,425 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises 2.1% of Castleark Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. Castleark Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $68,292,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Financial Gravity Companies Inc. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. lifted its stake in Alphabet by 36.4% in the second quarter. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. now owns 251 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 37.9% during the 2nd quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 324 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares during the period. S&T Bank PA grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 40.2% in the second quarter. S&T Bank PA now owns 345 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 77.6% during the second quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 348 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $61,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of GOOGL opened at $309.29 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $140.53 and a 52-week high of $328.83. The stock has a market cap of $3.73 trillion, a PE ratio of 30.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $283.14 and its two-hundred day moving average is $229.57.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.29 by $0.58. Alphabet had a net margin of 32.23% and a return on equity of 35.00%. The business had revenue of $102.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $99.90 billion. Research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 8th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 8th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is 8.28%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, Director Frances Arnold sold 102 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Monday, December 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $317.66, for a total value of $32,401.32. Following the sale, the director owned 18,104 shares in the company, valued at $5,750,916.64. The trade was a 0.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 954 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $317.00, for a total transaction of $302,418.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 11,740 shares in the company, valued at $3,721,580. The trade was a 7.52% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 226,128 shares of company stock worth $61,326,372 in the last three months. 11.64% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $315.00 price objective (up from $250.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $306.00 price target (up previously from $255.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Alphabet from $215.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 22nd. President Capital lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $258.00 to $323.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Finally, Citic Securities raised their target price on Alphabet from $230.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-one have assigned a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $314.22.

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.