Principle Wealth Partners LLC Grows Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Principle Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 0.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 87,979 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 403 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for 1.1% of Principle Wealth Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest position. Principle Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $12,290,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. Aire Advisors LLC increased its position in Alphabet by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Aire Advisors LLC now owns 11,772 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,645,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the period. Defined Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Defined Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,531 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $354,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. WealthCare Investment Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. WealthCare Investment Partners LLC now owns 3,473 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $482,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the period. Peoples Financial Services CORP. boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Peoples Financial Services CORP. now owns 16,690 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,331,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Finally, RAM Investment Partners LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. RAM Investment Partners LLC now owns 7,550 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,055,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $167.24 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.10, a current ratio of 2.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The firm has a market cap of $2.08 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.65, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.02. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $103.97 and a twelve month high of $174.71. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $150.14 and a 200-day moving average price of $142.36.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share (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 analysts’ expectations of $66.04 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.17 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Investors of record on Monday, June 10th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 10th.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GOOGL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $160.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Susquehanna upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $170.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities upped their price objective on Alphabet from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $190.60.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.29, for a total transaction of $3,291,525.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now 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 accessible through this link. In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 2,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.76, for a total transaction of $369,096.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 5,891 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,035,402.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,377,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $347,832,416.39. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 275,129 shares of company stock valued at $40,382,765. Insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

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.