Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC Increases Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 6.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 295,479 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 18,632 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for 1.1% of Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest holding. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $41,275,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in Alphabet by 7.4% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 3,117,971 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $435,549,000 after buying an additional 214,420 shares during the period. LWM Advisory Services LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. LWM Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,008 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $560,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares during the period. Steele Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth approximately $416,000. Adell Harriman & Carpenter Inc. raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Adell Harriman & Carpenter Inc. now owns 133,437 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $18,640,000 after purchasing an additional 3,083 shares during the period. Finally, Orca Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 6.6% during the fourth quarter. Orca Investment Management LLC now owns 19,273 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,692,000 after purchasing an additional 1,187 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $200.00 target price (up from $160.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Alphabet from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Wolfe Research upped their target price on Alphabet from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. UBS Group upped their target price on Alphabet from $150.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Roth Mkm increased their price target on Alphabet from $164.00 to $202.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $190.60.

Alphabet Stock Up 1.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $171.25 on Wednesday. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $105.16 and a 52 week high of $174.71. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $151.40 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $142.83. The company has a quick ratio of 2.15, a current ratio of 2.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The company has a market cap of $2.12 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.02.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its earnings results 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. 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 quarter last year, the company earned $1.17 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.47%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.08, for a total value of $3,219,300.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,355,191 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $336,980,728.28. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 300 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.51, for a total transaction of $41,853.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 9,291 shares in the company, valued at $1,296,187.41. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.08, for a total value of $3,219,300.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,355,191 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $336,980,728.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 252,629 shares of company stock valued at $37,091,240 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

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.