Zhang Financial LLC Increases Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Zhang Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 13.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 39,488 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,769 shares during the period. Zhang Financial LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $5,516,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of GOOGL. Cardinal Capital Management grew its stake in Alphabet by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Cardinal Capital Management now owns 64,895 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $8,492,000 after acquiring an additional 525 shares in the last quarter. Altus Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 40.3% in the 3rd quarter. Altus Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,339 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $437,000 after purchasing an additional 959 shares during the last quarter. Tevis Investment Management boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Tevis Investment Management now owns 9,876 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,292,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 7.2% in the 3rd quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network now owns 8,685 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,136,000 after purchasing an additional 582 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arcus Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Arcus Capital Partners LLC now owns 8,671 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,135,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

Alphabet stock opened at $171.95 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $147.85 and a 200-day simple moving average of $141.42. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $103.54 and a 12-month high of $174.71. The company has a current ratio of 2.10, a quick ratio of 2.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The stock has a market cap of $2.14 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The information services provider reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. Alphabet had a net margin of 25.90% and a return on equity of 30.01%. The firm had revenue of $86.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $70.77 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.05 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 6.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Investors of record on Monday, June 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.47%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 12.27%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on GOOGL. JMP Securities boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $165.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Susquehanna upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $187.82.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 660 shares of Alphabet 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,920 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,009,032.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.70, for a total value of $2,985,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,332,691 shares in the company, valued at $309,548,095.70. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 660 shares of Alphabet 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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 27,920 shares in the company, valued at $4,009,032.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 253,439 shares of company stock worth $36,746,578 in the last ninety days. 0.88% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Company 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.