Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC Buys 2,255 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 10.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 23,325 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,255 shares during the period. Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $3,258,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. 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 worth $29,746,764,000 after buying an additional 12,070,681 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 4,894.1% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 5,445,396 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $7,606,670,000 after acquiring an additional 5,336,359 shares during the period. J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 3rd quarter worth about $634,465,000. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at about $601,545,000. Finally, Lone Pine Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter valued at about $407,367,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on GOOGL shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Alphabet from $165.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $173.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Wedbush lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $175.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. KeyCorp raised their target price on Alphabet from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, JMP Securities upped their price target on Alphabet from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine 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 an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $189.44.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.70, for a total value of $2,985,750.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,332,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $309,548,095.70. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Alphabet news, SVP Prabhakar Raghavan sold 3,258 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.97, for a total value of $508,150.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 144,685 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,566,519.45. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.70, for a total value of $2,985,750.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,332,691 shares in the company, valued at $309,548,095.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 253,209 shares of company stock worth $36,711,144 over the last quarter. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Stock Down 3.4 %

Alphabet stock opened at $166.15 on Tuesday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $2.07 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.05. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $148.36 and a 200-day moving average price of $141.62. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $103.71 and a twelve month high of $174.71.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by $0.40. Alphabet had a return on equity of 29.52% and a net margin of 25.90%. The business had revenue of $80.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $66.04 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.17 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 6.82 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 10th.

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.