Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Stake Boosted by Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC

Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 0.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 88,726 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 783 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up 2.4% of Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $12,394,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of GOOGL. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 5.6% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 227,317,469 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $29,746,764,000 after acquiring an additional 12,070,681 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at about $15,441,917,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 3.7% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 67,684,197 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $8,857,154,000 after acquiring an additional 2,416,328 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 45,220,857 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $6,316,902,000 after acquiring an additional 1,472,043 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 34,910,194 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $4,876,605,000 after acquiring an additional 874,919 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOGL has been the subject of a number of research reports. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $170.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Monday. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $200.00 price objective (up previously from $160.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $155.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Five research 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, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $189.74.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 2,100 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.76, for a total transaction of $369,096.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,891 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,035,402.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $157.41, for a total transaction of $3,541,725.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,303,011 shares in the company, valued at approximately $362,516,961.51. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 2,100 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.76, for a total transaction of $369,096.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 5,891 shares in the company, valued at $1,035,402.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 253,289 shares of company stock worth $36,724,534. Corporate insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of Alphabet stock traded down $3.37 on Tuesday, hitting $162.78. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 33,503,634 shares, compared to its average volume of 30,866,035. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $103.71 and a 52-week high of $174.71. The company has a quick ratio of 2.10, a current ratio of 2.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $148.80 and a 200-day moving average price of $141.79. The company has a market capitalization of $2.02 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.49 by $0.40. The business had revenue of $80.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $66.04 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 25.90% and a return on equity of 29.52%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.17 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 6.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 10th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%.

Alphabet Company 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.