Shira Ridge Wealth Management Purchases 686 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Shira Ridge Wealth Management boosted its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 11.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,692 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 686 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises 0.6% of Shira Ridge Wealth Management’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest position. Shira Ridge Wealth Management’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,267,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. State Street Corp grew its position in Alphabet by 0.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 222,555,548 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $36,910,838,000 after buying an additional 743,369 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 2.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 134,030,679 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $22,154,651,000 after acquiring an additional 2,626,431 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 7.7% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 63,667,407 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $10,559,240,000 after acquiring an additional 4,567,275 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 49,857,900 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $8,268,933,000 after purchasing an additional 1,237,385 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Alphabet by 1.4% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 37,233,079 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $6,175,106,000 after purchasing an additional 523,416 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Alphabet stock opened at $189.66 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The firm has a market cap of $2.32 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.98. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $130.66 and a 1-year high of $201.42. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $183.45 and a 200-day moving average of $173.04.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $72.85 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.55 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th were issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.42%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.61%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on GOOGL. Pivotal Research boosted their target price on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Robert W. Baird restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $205.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $208.15.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.78, for a total transaction of $1,898,190.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 330,466 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $59,741,643.48. The trade was a 3.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.80, for a total transaction of $284,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 21,824 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,142,195.20. This trade represents a 6.43 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 130,553 shares of company stock valued at $23,817,951. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

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.