Peregrine Asset Advisers Inc. Purchases 11,061 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Peregrine Asset Advisers Inc. boosted its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 68.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 27,174 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 11,061 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up 1.9% of Peregrine Asset Advisers Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest position. Peregrine Asset Advisers Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $5,144,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. LMR Partners LLP bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the third quarter worth $32,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 518.8% during the fourth quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth $39,000. Finally, PayPay Securities Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 36.1% during the fourth quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 245 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Alphabet from $232.00 to $229.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald cut their price target on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Wolfe Research lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $210.62.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,834 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.55, for a total transaction of $559,856.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 20,681 shares in the company, valued at $4,085,531.55. This trade represents a 12.05 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total transaction of $3,239,868.40. Following the sale, the insider now owns 43,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,471,620.22. The trade was a 27.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 134,316 shares of company stock worth $25,062,887 in the last quarter. Insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of GOOGL stock opened at $172.35 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $131.61 and a 52-week high of $207.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $188.59 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $176.35. The company has a market capitalization of $2.10 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.41, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.99.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. Research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.46%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 9.94%.

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.