Townsend Asset Management Corp NC ADV Grows Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Townsend Asset Management Corp NC ADV increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 5.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 26,883 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,396 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up 1.6% of Townsend Asset Management Corp NC ADV’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. Townsend Asset Management Corp NC ADV’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $4,057,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. RWQ Financial Management Services Inc. grew its holdings in Alphabet by 8.2% during the 4th quarter. RWQ Financial Management Services Inc. now owns 61,499 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $8,591,000 after buying an additional 4,664 shares in the last quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management grew its holdings in Alphabet by 55.4% during the 4th quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 214,443 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $29,956,000 after buying an additional 76,410 shares in the last quarter. Robbins Farley grew its holdings in Alphabet by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Robbins Farley now owns 15,006 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,096,000 after buying an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Nebula Research & Development LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $787,000. Finally, CKW Financial Group boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 5.8% in the 1st quarter. CKW Financial Group now owns 13,830 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,150,000 after purchasing an additional 760 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Raymond James lifted their target price on Alphabet from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Alphabet from $155.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $215.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, May 15th. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $196.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, May 15th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price target on Alphabet from $170.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $193.66.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.67, for a total value of $113,668.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 29,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,880,764.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 123,788 shares of company stock worth $21,143,403. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Alphabet stock traded up $4.50 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $190.32. 10,359,268 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 28,276,980. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 2.15 and a quick ratio of 2.15. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $175.05 and its 200-day moving average price is $155.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.35 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.05. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $115.35 and a 1 year high of $190.44.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.49 by $0.40. The business had revenue of $80.54 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $66.04 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 29.52% and a net margin of 25.90%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.17 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 10th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.42%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is presently 12.27%.

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.