Pinney & Scofield Inc. Acquires New Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Pinney & Scofield Inc. acquired a new stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 2,449 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $464,000. Alphabet makes up 0.4% of Pinney & Scofield Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest holding.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. increased its position in Alphabet by 518.8% in the 4th quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 166 shares during the period. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. PayPay Securities Corp increased its position in 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 during the period. Finally, Anderson Financial Strategies LLC bought a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $49,000. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.4%

Shares of GOOGL opened at $168.47 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $158.57 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $174.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $140.53 and a 52-week high of $207.05. The company has a market cap of $2.04 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.93, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 the consensus estimate of $89.30 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.89 EPS. Analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be given a $0.21 dividend. This is an increase from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.50%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is presently 9.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total transaction of $33,106.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 7,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,293,285.89. This represents a 2.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,374 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.47, for a total value of $238,347.78. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 15,024 shares in the company, valued at $2,606,213.28. This trade represents a 8.38% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 164,654 shares of company stock worth $26,793,380. 11.64% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on the company. UBS Group set a $195.00 price target on Alphabet in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Susquehanna dropped their price target on Alphabet from $225.00 to $220.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 25th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $200.00 price target (down from $230.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Alphabet from $220.00 to $180.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $199.75.

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.