Taylor Hoffman Wealth Management Increases Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Taylor Hoffman Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 3.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 37,466 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,140 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up about 2.4% of Taylor Hoffman Wealth Management’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest position. Taylor Hoffman Wealth Management’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $5,234,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Aire Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.6% in 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 increased its position in Alphabet by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Defined Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,531 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $354,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the period. WealthCare Investment Partners LLC boosted its holdings in 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 stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.4% in 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 buying an additional 72 shares during the period. Finally, RAM Investment Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. RAM Investment Partners LLC now owns 7,550 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,055,000 after buying an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOGL stock opened at $176.38 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 2.15 and a quick ratio of 2.15. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $159.52 and a 200-day moving average of $146.20. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $115.35 and a one year high of $178.77. The company has a market cap of $2.18 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.02.

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

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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 issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.45%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, SVP Prabhakar Raghavan sold 3,258 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.97, for a total value of $508,150.26. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 144,685 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,566,519.45. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Prabhakar Raghavan sold 3,258 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.97, for a total value of $508,150.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 144,685 shares in the company, valued at $22,566,519.45. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $309,548,095.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 205,935 shares of company stock worth $31,178,987. Insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on GOOGL shares. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $160.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Redburn Atlantic increased their price target on Alphabet from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Argus boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $170.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. Mizuho increased their target price on Alphabet from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on Alphabet from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.