Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Position Raised by Long Road Investment Counsel LLC

Long Road Investment Counsel LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 80.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 89,740 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 40,000 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for approximately 5.2% of Long Road Investment Counsel LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Long Road Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $12,573,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at about $38,000. Meritage Group LP grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1,061.5% during the third quarter. Meritage Group LP now owns 302 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 276 shares during the last quarter. Armor Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 31.0% during the fourth quarter. Armor Investment Advisors LLC now owns 338 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. IAG Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 55.9% during the fourth quarter. IAG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 343 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 123 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Valued Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth about $55,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Down 0.8 %

NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $176.38 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 2.15, a quick ratio of 2.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $115.35 and a 12 month high of $178.77. The company has a market cap of $2.18 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $159.52 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $146.20.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by $0.40. Alphabet had a net margin of 25.90% and a return on equity of 29.52%. The business had revenue of $80.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $66.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.17 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 10th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 10th.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.51, for a total transaction of $41,853.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 9,291 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,296,187.41. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.51, for a total transaction of $41,853.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 9,291 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,296,187.41. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.70, for a total transaction of $2,985,750.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,332,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $309,548,095.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 205,935 shares of company stock valued at $31,178,987 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on GOOGL shares. Wolfe Research raised their target price on Alphabet from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Mizuho raised their target price on Alphabet from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $173.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $190.60.

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.