Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Purchased by Searcy Financial Services Inc. ADV

Searcy Financial Services Inc. ADV raised its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 5.6% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,885 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up about 0.1% of Searcy Financial Services Inc. ADV’s holdings, making the stock its 20th largest position. Searcy Financial Services Inc. ADV’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $285,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Alphabet by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 493,810,251 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $68,980,354,000 after acquiring an additional 6,374,756 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at about $15,441,917,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 45,220,857 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $6,316,902,000 after purchasing an additional 1,472,043 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Alphabet by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 34,910,194 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $4,876,605,000 after buying an additional 874,919 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors increased its position in Alphabet by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 30,408,933 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $4,247,868,000 after buying an additional 686,514 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOGL opened at $182.99 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.15, a current ratio of 2.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $172.85 and its 200 day moving average price is $154.44. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $115.35 and a fifty-two week high of $186.05. The firm has a market cap of $2.26 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.49 by $0.40. Alphabet had a return on equity of 29.52% and a net margin of 25.90%. The business had revenue of $80.54 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $66.04 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.17 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 10th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 12.27%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $155.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 11th. Mizuho increased their price objective on Alphabet from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, June 11th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $193.66.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.40, for a total transaction of $3,991,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,213,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $392,588,151.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.40, for a total transaction of $3,991,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,213,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $392,588,151.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.56, for a total value of $127,648.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,991 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,275,043.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 142,344 shares of company stock worth $23,920,676. 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.