Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Purchased by Empire Financial Management Company LLC

Empire Financial Management Company LLC raised its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 3.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,789 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 603 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up approximately 1.2% of Empire Financial Management Company LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest position. Empire Financial Management Company LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $3,935,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at about $24,383,677,000. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 9.8% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 248,416,916 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $47,025,322,000 after purchasing an additional 22,100,902 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 16.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 72,033,086 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $13,635,878,000 after purchasing an additional 10,037,685 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 15.9% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 66,050,135 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $12,503,291,000 after purchasing an additional 9,042,271 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in Alphabet by 8.3% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 98,638,127 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $18,672,198,000 after purchasing an additional 7,574,417 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.90, for a total transaction of $32,380.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 7,613 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,232,544.70. The trade was a 2.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.16, for a total transaction of $5,075,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,685,196 shares in the company, valued at approximately $419,320,207.36. This represents a 1.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 148,163 shares of company stock valued at $25,361,647. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $155.65 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.90 trillion, a PE ratio of 19.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $163.13 and its 200 day moving average price is $175.47. 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 1 year low of $140.53 and a 1 year high of $207.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. On average, research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 9.94%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Roth Mkm reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. DA Davidson cut their price target on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $160.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $208.00 to $185.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, KeyCorp dropped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $202.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $199.64.

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.