Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. Invests $986,000 in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 7,059 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $986,000.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. FMR LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 227,317,469 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $29,746,764,000 after acquiring an additional 12,070,681 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 4,894.1% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 5,445,396 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $7,606,670,000 after acquiring an additional 5,336,359 shares in the last quarter. J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at about $634,465,000. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board bought a new position in Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at about $601,545,000. Finally, Lone Pine Capital LLC bought a new position in Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at about $407,367,000. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Up 10.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $171.95 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $147.85 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $141.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 2.10 and a quick ratio of 2.10. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $103.54 and a one year high of $174.71. The company has a market cap of $2.14 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.37, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The information services provider reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. Alphabet had a net margin of 25.90% and a return on equity of 30.01%. The firm had revenue of $86.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $70.77 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.05 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 6.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 12.27%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GOOGL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $168.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, JMP Securities raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $187.82.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, CFO Ruth Porat sold 48,077 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.22, for a total transaction of $6,597,125.94. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 1,777,106 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $243,854,485.32. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.29, for a total transaction of $3,291,525.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,377,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $347,832,416.39. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Ruth Porat sold 48,077 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.22, for a total transaction of $6,597,125.94. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 1,777,106 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $243,854,485.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 253,439 shares of company stock valued at $36,746,578. Insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

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.