GKV Capital Management Co. Inc. Invests $5.45 Million in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

GKV Capital Management Co. Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 28,810 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $5,454,000. Alphabet makes up approximately 2.2% of GKV Capital Management Co. Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest position.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Alphabet by 518.8% during the fourth quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at $39,000. PayPay Securities Corp grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 36.1% in the 4th quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 245 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth about $53,000. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.5 %

NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $151.08 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $140.53 and a 52 week high of $207.05. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $165.14 and a 200 day moving average price of $175.84. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The firm has a market cap of $1.84 trillion, a PE ratio of 18.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.94%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,690 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.51, for a total value of $3,281,671.90. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 43,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,997,521.61. This represents a 29.09 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,340 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total value of $270,787.20. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 17,848 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,606,723.84. This represents a 6.98 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 148,163 shares of company stock worth $25,361,647 over the last 90 days. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on GOOGL. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $185.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. DZ Bank cut Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $198.00 target price for the company. in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Wolfe Research boosted their target price on Alphabet from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Wedbush set a $190.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, KeyCorp reduced their target price on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $202.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $200.74.

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.