Andrew Hill Investment Advisors Inc. Makes New $3.39 Million Investment in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Andrew Hill Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 24,275 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,391,000. Alphabet makes up about 3.5% of Andrew Hill Investment Advisors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest holding.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 227,317,469 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $29,746,764,000 after purchasing an additional 12,070,681 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 67,684,197 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $8,857,154,000 after purchasing an additional 2,416,328 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 34,035,275 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $4,453,856,000 after purchasing an additional 335,219 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 7.8% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 25,064,614 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,279,955,000 after purchasing an additional 1,809,910 shares during the period. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 9.3% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 24,145,417 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,159,669,000 after purchasing an additional 2,058,221 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Up 10.2 %

NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $171.95 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.14 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.37, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.05. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $103.54 and a 1-year high of $174.71. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $147.85 and its 200-day moving average price is $141.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 2.10 and a quick ratio of 2.10.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The information services provider reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $86.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $70.77 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 25.90% and a return on equity of 30.01%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.05 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 6.79 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Investors of record on Monday, June 10th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.47%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 12.27%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GOOGL has been the subject of several research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $165.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. KeyCorp increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $155.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $187.82.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.29, for a total transaction of $3,291,525.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,377,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $347,832,416.39. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.29, for a total transaction of $3,291,525.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,377,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $347,832,416.39. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.49, for a total transaction of $93,086.18. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 28,602 shares in the company, valued at $3,903,886.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 253,439 shares of company stock worth $36,746,578. 0.88% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Alphabet

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.