First Pacific Financial Purchases 1,571 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

First Pacific Financial increased its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 123.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 2,840 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,571 shares during the quarter. First Pacific Financial’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $538,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Schear Investment Advisers LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 17.0% in the third quarter. Schear Investment Advisers LLC now owns 33,751 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $5,598,000 after purchasing an additional 4,905 shares during the last quarter. Trinity Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 4.5% during the third quarter. Trinity Financial Advisors LLC now owns 4,423 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $771,000 after buying an additional 190 shares during the period. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 27.9% in the 3rd quarter. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 25,275 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $4,192,000 after purchasing an additional 5,516 shares during the period. abrdn plc boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 10.7% during the 3rd quarter. abrdn plc now owns 6,305,717 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,037,196,000 after buying an additional 611,233 shares in the last quarter. Finally, StoneCrest Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in Alphabet by 0.7% during the third quarter. StoneCrest Wealth Management Inc. now owns 21,509 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,567,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.78, for a total value of $1,898,190.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 330,466 shares in the company, valued at approximately $59,741,643.48. This represents a 3.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.42, for a total value of $234,331.14. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 26,349 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,516,745.58. The trade was a 4.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 133,387 shares of company stock worth $24,368,654. 11.55% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GOOGL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Phillip Securities raised Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Seaport Res Ptn raised Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $208.15.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOGL opened at $196.00 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The firm has a market cap of $2.40 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 0.98. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $184.43 and a 200-day moving average price of $173.34. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $130.66 and a 12 month high of $201.42.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $72.85 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.55 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.61%.

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.