West Financial Advisors LLC Raises Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

West Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 30.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,601 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 601 shares during the quarter. West Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $492,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. LMR Partners LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the third quarter valued at $32,000. Denver PWM LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet in the 2nd quarter valued at about $41,000. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 2nd quarter worth about $53,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the third quarter worth about $66,000. Finally, Mendota Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 19.0% in the third quarter. Mendota Financial Group LLC now owns 401 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $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 Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $196.00 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $2.40 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 0.98. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $184.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $173.33. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $130.66 and a fifty-two week high of $201.42. 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 (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $72.85 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.55 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.03 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $187.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Seaport Res Ptn raised Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Pivotal Research increased their target price on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $210.00 price objective (up previously from $200.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $208.15.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now owns 330,466 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,834 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 17,847 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,468,029.04. This trade represents a 13.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 133,387 shares of company stock valued at $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.