4,168 Shares in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Bought by Ascent Capital Management LLC

Ascent Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 4,168 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $789,000. Alphabet makes up 0.8% of Ascent Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest position.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. LMR Partners LLP purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at $32,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. raised its position in Alphabet by 518.8% in the 4th quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, PayPay Securities Corp boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 36.1% during the 4th quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 245 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on GOOGL. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $187.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Alphabet from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Citizens Jmp lowered Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Ten 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $210.59.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, insider Ruth Porat sold 17,690 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.48, for a total transaction of $3,245,761.20. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,449,286 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $265,914,995.28. This trade represents a 1.21 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of the business’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 value of $3,239,868.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 43,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,471,620.22. The trade was a 27.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 104,812 shares of company stock worth $19,336,979 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOGL opened at $162.24 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $147.22 and a 12-month high of $207.05. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The company has a market cap of $1.98 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.02. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $180.49 and a 200-day moving average price of $176.68.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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

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.