Essex LLC Acquires 879 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Essex LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 3.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 28,000 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 879 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up approximately 1.0% of Essex LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 28th largest holding. Essex LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $3,911,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Live Oak Investment Partners bought a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. bought a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Turim 21 Investimentos Ltda. bought a new stake in Alphabet during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Meritage Group LP lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1,061.5% during the third quarter. Meritage Group LP now owns 302 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 276 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Macroview Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 165.8% during the third quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC now owns 319 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on GOOGL. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $160.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Rosenblatt Securities decreased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $174.00 to $172.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Wolfe Research boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $155.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $158.41.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,332,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $309,548,095.70. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at approximately $309,548,095.70. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 660 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.59, for a total transaction of $94,769.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 27,920 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,009,032.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 251,339 shares of company stock valued at $36,377,482. Company insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $154.09 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.92 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.57, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 2.10 and a current ratio of 2.10. The company has a fifty day moving average of $146.26 and a 200 day moving average of $140.54. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $102.63 and a fifty-two week high of $160.22.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The information services provider reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $86.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $70.77 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 24.01% and a return on equity of 27.22%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.05 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 6.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.