Apella Capital LLC Boosts Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Apella Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 6.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 8,515 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 538 shares during the period. Apella Capital LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,612,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of GOOGL. LMR Partners LLP purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. Denver PWM LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the second quarter worth about $41,000. Quarry LP acquired a new position in Alphabet during the second quarter worth about $53,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new position in Alphabet in the third quarter valued at about $66,000. Finally, Mendota Financial Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 19.0% during the 3rd quarter. Mendota Financial Group LLC now owns 401 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $67,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Robert W. Baird reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $205.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $217.00 price objective (up from $215.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Loop Capital lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $208.15.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,834 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total transaction of $550,702.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 17,847 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,468,029.04. This represents a 13.70 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.78, for a total transaction of $1,898,190.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 330,466 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $59,741,643.48. This trade represents a 3.08 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 133,387 shares of company stock worth $24,368,654. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Stock Down 1.4 %

NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $192.91 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $130.66 and a fifty-two week high of $201.42. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $183.83 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $173.20. The stock has a market cap of $2.36 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 0.98.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. The business had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $72.85 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.55 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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

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.