Marietta Wealth Management LLC Raises Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Marietta Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 2.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 161,974 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,484 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises about 4.4% of Marietta Wealth Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. Marietta Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $30,662,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of GOOGL. Bennett Selby Investments LP grew its holdings in Alphabet by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Bennett Selby Investments LP now owns 1,354 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $256,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Conrad Siegel Investment Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Alphabet by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Conrad Siegel Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 9,845 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,864,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Denver PWM LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 25.4% during the third quarter. Denver PWM LLC now owns 281 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Ignite Planners LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Ignite Planners LLC now owns 15,078 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,892,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fermata Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC now owns 7,433 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,407,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on GOOGL shares. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $217.00 price objective (up previously from $215.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $232.00 to $220.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, DA Davidson raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $210.62.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.22, for a total transaction of $291,330.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 23,324 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,529,987.28. The trade was a 6.04 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,340 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total value of $270,787.20. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 17,848 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,606,723.84. The trade was a 6.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 89,529 shares of company stock worth $16,600,078 over the last three months. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of GOOGL stock opened at $185.34 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $191.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $174.61. The company has a quick ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The firm has a market cap of $2.27 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.02, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.99. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $130.66 and a 12 month high of $207.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. Research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.91 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.43%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 9.94%.

Alphabet 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.