HBW Advisory Services LLC Raises Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

HBW Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 20.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 33,155 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 5,602 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for approximately 0.9% of HBW Advisory Services LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest position. HBW Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $6,276,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. LMR Partners LLP purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Denver PWM LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the second quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the second quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the third quarter valued at approximately $66,000. Finally, Mendota Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 19.0% in the 3rd quarter. Mendota Financial Group LLC now owns 401 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $67,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Trading Down 0.3 %

GOOGL stock traded down $0.57 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $193.38. The company had a trading volume of 17,819,715 shares, compared to its average volume of 22,823,910. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.95. The company has a market capitalization of $2.37 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.98. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $182.20 and a 200 day moving average of $173.01. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $130.66 and a 12 month high of $201.42.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its 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 business 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 prior year, the firm earned $1.55 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.41%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 10.61%.

Insider Activity

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.30, for a total value of $3,741,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,106,806 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $350,361,837.80. This trade represents a 1.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total transaction of $3,239,868.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 43,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,471,620.22. This represents a 27.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 155,887 shares of company stock worth $27,996,356. Corporate insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on GOOGL. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Roth Mkm lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $206.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $205.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Nine 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 company. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $207.08.

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.