Symphony Financial Ltd. Co. Has $9.07 Million Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Symphony Financial Ltd. Co. increased its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 26.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 45,723 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,535 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for about 1.4% of Symphony Financial Ltd. Co.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. Symphony Financial Ltd. Co.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $9,069,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bennett Selby Investments LP lifted its stake in Alphabet by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Bennett Selby Investments LP now owns 1,354 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $256,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Conrad Siegel Investment Advisors Inc. raised its position in Alphabet by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Conrad Siegel Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 9,845 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,864,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the period. Denver PWM LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 25.4% in the 3rd quarter. Denver PWM LLC now owns 281 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the period. Ignite Planners LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Ignite Planners LLC now owns 15,078 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,892,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the period. Finally, Fermata Advisors LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC now owns 7,433 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,407,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Down 3.3 %

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $185.34 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a current ratio of 1.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.27 trillion, a PE ratio of 23.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.99. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $130.66 and a 52-week high of $207.05. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $191.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $174.61.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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, analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on GOOGL. Pivotal Research lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wolfe Research raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $204.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, China Renaissance raised shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $210.62.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,340 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total transaction of $270,787.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 17,848 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,606,723.84. The trade was a 6.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total transaction of $3,239,868.40. Following the sale, the insider now owns 43,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,471,620.22. This trade represents a 27.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 89,529 shares of company stock valued at $16,600,078 over the last three months. Insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Company 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.