626 Financial LLC Acquires 131 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

626 Financial LLC grew its holdings in 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 firm owned 26,949 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 131 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises 2.8% of 626 Financial LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest holding. 626 Financial LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $5,101,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in GOOGL. LMR Partners LLP acquired a new position in Alphabet in the third quarter worth approximately $32,000. Denver PWM LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet in the second quarter worth approximately $41,000. Quarry LP acquired a new position in Alphabet in the second quarter worth approximately $53,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America acquired a new position in Alphabet in the third quarter worth approximately $66,000. Finally, Mendota Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 19.0% in the third quarter. Mendota Financial Group LLC now owns 401 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $67,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Alphabet stock opened at $195.55 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.95. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $183.45 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $173.04. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $130.66 and a 52-week high of $201.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.39 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.94, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.98.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. The firm had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $72.85 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.55 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th were paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.41%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.61%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on GOOGL. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Alphabet from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Alphabet from $204.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $210.00 price target (up previously from $200.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $208.15.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.78, for a total value of $1,898,190.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 330,466 shares in the company, valued at approximately $59,741,643.48. This trade represents a 3.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.36, for a total value of $3,990,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,084,306 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $369,672,512.16. This trade represents a 1.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 133,387 shares of company stock worth $24,368,654. 11.55% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.