Westchester Capital Management Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Westchester Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 0.2% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 110,184 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 217 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up about 5.2% of Westchester Capital Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest position. Westchester Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $20,858,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of GOOGL. Schear Investment Advisers LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 17.0% during the third quarter. Schear Investment Advisers LLC now owns 33,751 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $5,598,000 after buying an additional 4,905 shares in the last quarter. Permanent Capital Management LP bought a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $273,000. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. increased its stake in Alphabet by 27.9% during the third quarter. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 25,275 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $4,192,000 after acquiring an additional 5,516 shares during the period. Glass Wealth Management Co LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Glass Wealth Management Co LLC now owns 37,054 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $7,014,000 after purchasing an additional 1,580 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Olistico Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 9.1% in the 4th quarter. Olistico Wealth LLC now owns 8,981 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,700,000 after purchasing an additional 746 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOGL opened at $167.68 on Tuesday. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $147.22 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 stock has a market capitalization of $2.04 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.02. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $182.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $176.73.

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

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is 9.94%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on Alphabet from $210.00 to $208.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Roth Mkm reissued a “buy” rating and set a $220.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $210.59.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, insider Ruth Porat sold 17,690 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.48, for a total value of $3,245,761.20. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,449,286 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $265,914,995.28. This represents a 1.21 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,340 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total transaction of $270,787.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 17,848 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,606,723.84. This trade represents a 6.98 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 93,048 shares of company stock worth $17,374,274 in the last three months. 11.55% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Alphabet Company 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.