Marks Group Wealth Management Inc Boosts Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Marks Group Wealth Management Inc raised its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 5.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 6,385 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 320 shares during the period. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $892,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Meritage Group LP boosted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 276 shares during the period. Macroview Investment Management LLC boosted 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 period. Armor Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 31.0% in the 4th 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. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at $55,000. Finally, LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 301.5% in the 4th quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 522 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $73,000 after purchasing an additional 392 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 660 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $4,009,032.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 660 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 27,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,009,032.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 48,076 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.20, for a total transaction of $6,836,407.20. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,725 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,809,495. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 253,289 shares of company stock worth $36,724,534 over the last 90 days. 0.88% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $162.78 on Wednesday. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $103.71 and a 1 year high of $174.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 2.15 and a quick ratio of 2.10. The company’s 50-day moving average is $148.80 and its 200 day moving average is $141.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.02 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $80.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $66.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.17 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 6.82 earnings per share for the current 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 given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 10th.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOGL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $174.00 to $196.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $200.00 price objective (up from $160.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, April 26th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $165.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $189.74.

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.