Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Position Boosted by MJP Associates Inc. ADV

MJP Associates Inc. ADV boosted its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 20.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 29,591 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,987 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for approximately 1.0% of MJP Associates Inc. ADV’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest position. MJP Associates Inc. ADV’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $5,602,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth $166,633,000. Letko Brosseau & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $207,000. Light Street Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $11,414,000. Lagoda Investment Management L.P. boosted its position in Alphabet by 12.5% in the fourth quarter. Lagoda Investment Management L.P. now owns 1,480 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $280,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth about $1,704,000. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Westpark Capital reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday. KeyCorp upped their target price on Alphabet from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Tigress Financial increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $199.75.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of GOOGL opened at $152.75 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $158.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $175.27. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $140.53 and a 1-year high of $207.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84. The company has a market capitalization of $1.85 trillion, a P/E ratio of 18.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. The firm had revenue of $76.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $89.30 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.89 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. This is a positive change from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.55%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.36%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,690 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.51, for a total value of $3,281,671.90. Following the sale, the insider now owns 43,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,997,521.61. This represents a 29.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.90, for a total transaction of $5,066,750.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,652,696 shares in the company, valued at $413,555,306.40. This trade represents a 1.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 179,324 shares of company stock worth $30,153,353. 11.64% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Alphabet Company Profile

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.