Private Capital Management LLC Buys 1,000 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Private Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 2.9% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 35,343 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for about 0.7% of Private Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. Private Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $6,691,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of GOOGL. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 9.8% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 248,416,916 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $47,025,322,000 after buying an additional 22,100,902 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth $24,383,677,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in Alphabet by 8.3% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 98,638,127 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $18,672,198,000 after buying an additional 7,574,417 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in Alphabet by 16.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 72,033,086 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $13,635,878,000 after buying an additional 10,037,685 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Alphabet by 17.0% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 69,616,854 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $13,178,470,000 after buying an additional 10,135,430 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total value of $33,106.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 7,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,293,285.89. This trade represents a 2.50% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 29,066 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.89, for a total transaction of $5,374,012.74. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 272,466 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $50,376,238.74. The trade was a 9.64% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 179,324 shares of company stock valued at $30,153,353 in the last quarter. 11.64% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Stock Up 3.7%

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $165.37 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $158.21 and a 200 day simple moving average of $175.05. The firm has a market cap of $2.01 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $140.53 and a 1 year high of $207.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. The firm had revenue of $76.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $89.30 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.89 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This is an increase from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.51%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.36%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. DA Davidson lowered their target price on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $160.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their target price on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $159.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Roth Mkm restated a “buy” rating and set a $220.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $199.75.

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.