VELA Investment Management LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

VELA Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 0.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 51,766 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 481 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up 2.8% of VELA Investment Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 4th largest position. VELA Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $7,231,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Aire Advisors LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Aire Advisors LLC now owns 11,772 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,645,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Defined Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Defined Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,531 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $354,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. WealthCare Investment Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. WealthCare Investment Partners LLC now owns 3,473 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $482,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Peoples Financial Services CORP. lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Peoples Financial Services CORP. now owns 16,690 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,331,000 after buying an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Finally, RAM Investment Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. RAM Investment Partners LLC now owns 7,550 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,055,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOGL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Rosenblatt Securities cut their price objective on Alphabet from $174.00 to $172.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Redburn Atlantic boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Barclays cut their price target on Alphabet from $180.00 to $173.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. UBS Group upped their price target on Alphabet from $150.00 to $166.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $185.00 price target (up previously from $178.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $158.71.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $157.41, for a total value of $3,541,725.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,303,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $362,516,961.51. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $157.41, for a total value of $3,541,725.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,303,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $362,516,961.51. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Ruth Porat sold 48,077 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.22, for a total value of $6,597,125.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 1,777,106 shares in the company, valued at approximately $243,854,485.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 251,339 shares of company stock valued at $36,377,482 in the last 90 days. 0.88% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of GOOGL opened at $156.28 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.94 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.94, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 2.10 and a current ratio of 2.10. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $146.43 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $140.78. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $102.63 and a 52 week high of $160.22.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The information services provider reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $86.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $70.77 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 27.22% and a net margin of 24.01%. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.05 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 6.78 earnings per share for the current year.

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.