MJP Associates Inc. ADV Increases Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

MJP Associates Inc. ADV grew its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 39.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 22,465 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,315 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises about 0.7% of MJP Associates Inc. ADV’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. MJP Associates Inc. ADV’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $3,391,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Clarus Wealth Advisors grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Clarus Wealth Advisors now owns 4,479 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $699,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the period. Fortitude Family Office LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 5.4% during the 1st quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 7,770 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,173,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the period. 17 Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. 17 Capital Partners LLC now owns 18,869 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,848,000 after acquiring an additional 714 shares during the period. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd now owns 502,341 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $75,818,000 after purchasing an additional 8,646 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Optimum Investment Advisors boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 10.2% in the 1st quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors now owns 8,835 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,333,000 after purchasing an additional 815 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of GOOGL stock opened at $179.63 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $115.35 and a 52-week high of $180.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 2.15 and a current ratio of 2.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.22 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.55, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.01. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $170.05 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $152.56.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $80.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $66.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.17 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 10th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.27%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, SVP Prabhakar Raghavan sold 3,258 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.97, for a total transaction of $508,150.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 144,685 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,566,519.45. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 12,084 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.19, for a total value of $1,826,979.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 48,717 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,365,523.23. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Prabhakar Raghavan sold 3,258 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.97, for a total transaction of $508,150.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 144,685 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,566,519.45. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 135,958 shares of company stock valued at $22,383,553 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Robert W. Baird boosted 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. Tigress Financial boosted their price target on Alphabet from $176.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 24th. Wedbush boosted their price target on Alphabet from $175.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Alphabet from $185.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on Alphabet from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $193.26.

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.