Townsend Asset Management Corp NC ADV Grows Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Townsend Asset Management Corp NC ADV boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 5.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 25,487 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,263 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up approximately 1.6% of Townsend Asset Management Corp NC ADV’s holdings, making the stock its 17th largest holding. Townsend Asset Management Corp NC ADV’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $3,560,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. FMR LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 5.6% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 227,317,469 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $29,746,764,000 after purchasing an additional 12,070,681 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Alphabet by 3.7% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 67,684,197 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $8,857,154,000 after purchasing an additional 2,416,328 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Alphabet by 1.0% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 34,035,275 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $4,453,856,000 after purchasing an additional 335,219 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in Alphabet by 7.8% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 25,064,614 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,279,955,000 after purchasing an additional 1,809,910 shares during the period. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 9.3% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 24,145,417 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,159,669,000 after purchasing an additional 2,058,221 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Down 2.0 %

Alphabet stock opened at $162.78 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.10, a current ratio of 2.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $103.71 and a 52 week high of $174.71. The company has a market capitalization of $2.02 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.05. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $148.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $141.79.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by $0.40. Alphabet had a return on equity of 29.52% and a net margin of 25.90%. The company had revenue of $80.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $66.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.17 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 6.82 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business 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. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 10th.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on GOOGL. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on Alphabet from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Susquehanna increased their price target on Alphabet from $170.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Alphabet from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Alphabet from $165.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Raymond James increased their price target on Alphabet from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $189.74.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 660 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.59, for a total value of $94,769.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,009,032.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 660 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,009,032.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 2,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.76, for a total value of $369,096.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,891 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,035,402.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 253,289 shares of company stock valued at $36,724,534. 0.88% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.