Main Street Research LLC Increases Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Main Street Research LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 2.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 281,038 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 7,259 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up about 3.3% of Main Street Research LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest position. Main Street Research LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $53,200,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of GOOGL. Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. LMR Partners LLP bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $32,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Alphabet by 518.8% in 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. bought a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth $39,000. Finally, PayPay Securities Corp lifted its position in Alphabet by 36.1% in the fourth quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 245 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOGL opened at $163.99 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.00 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.02. The business’s 50-day moving average is $182.57 and its two-hundred day moving average is $176.51. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $147.22 and a 1 year high of $207.05.

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

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.94%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.80, for a total transaction of $284,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 21,824 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,142,195.20. The trade was a 6.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,368 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.55, for a total value of $262,040.40. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 20,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,961,445.55. This trade represents a 6.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 93,048 shares of company stock valued at $17,374,274. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on GOOGL. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday. Roth Mkm restated a “buy” rating and issued a $220.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday. DZ Bank downgraded Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $198.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Alphabet from $187.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Alphabet from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $210.59.

Alphabet Profile

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.