Agate Pass Investment Management LLC Acquires 3,163 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Agate Pass Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 7.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 47,968 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,163 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for 4.1% of Agate Pass Investment Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Agate Pass Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $9,080,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Asset Allocation & Management Company LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 41.9% during the fourth quarter. Asset Allocation & Management Company LLC now owns 9,622 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,821,000 after buying an additional 2,842 shares in the last quarter. Thomasville National Bank grew its holdings in Alphabet by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Thomasville National Bank now owns 9,935 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,881,000 after acquiring an additional 466 shares during the last quarter. Compton Wealth Advisory Group LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Compton Wealth Advisory Group LLC now owns 45,080 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $8,534,000 after buying an additional 1,076 shares during the last quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 397,924 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $75,327,000 after purchasing an additional 9,222 shares during the period. Finally, ACT Advisors LLC. grew its holdings in Alphabet by 12.9% during the 4th quarter. ACT Advisors LLC. now owns 2,110 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $399,000 after acquiring an additional 241 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Alphabet stock traded down $2.32 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $189.72. 10,062,021 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 22,319,838. The business’s 50-day moving average is $182.62 and its 200-day moving average is $172.95. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $130.66 and a 12-month high of $201.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.32 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.98.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. The company had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $72.85 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.55 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.61%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.30, for a total transaction of $3,741,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,106,806 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $350,361,837.80. This represents a 1.06 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 441 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.06, for a total value of $75,437.46. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 16,490 shares in the company, valued at $2,820,779.40. This trade represents a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 154,387 shares of company stock valued at $27,748,931 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $204.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on Alphabet from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $210.00 price target (up from $200.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Loop Capital lifted their price target on Alphabet from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Tigress Financial raised their target price on Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $208.15.

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.