32,000 Shares in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Acquired by Truffle Hound Capital LLC

Truffle Hound Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund acquired 32,000 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $6,058,000. Alphabet comprises about 2.1% of Truffle Hound Capital LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 10th biggest holding.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Alphabet by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 11,283,594 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,871,384,000 after purchasing an additional 337,031 shares in the last quarter. Capital City Trust Co. FL grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.0% during the third quarter. Capital City Trust Co. FL now owns 65,586 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $10,877,000 after buying an additional 640 shares during the last quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 4.9% during the third quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC now owns 23,968 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,975,000 after buying an additional 1,118 shares in the last quarter. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC now owns 22,305 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,699,000 after acquiring an additional 672 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tidemark LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Tidemark LLC now owns 3,143 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $521,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $157.07 on Wednesday. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $147.22 and a 12-month high of $207.05. The company has a market cap of $1.91 trillion, a P/E ratio of 19.51, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $178.01 and a 200 day simple moving average of $177.09. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. Sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 9.94%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Alphabet from $184.00 to $167.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $205.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. DA Davidson boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Citizens Jmp downgraded shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $209.49.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,368 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.55, for a total value of $262,040.40. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 20,681 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,961,445.55. This represents a 6.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 29,066 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.89, for a total value of $5,374,012.74. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 272,466 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $50,376,238.74. This represents a 9.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 88,665 shares of company stock valued at $16,198,310. 11.55% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.