Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. Buys 1,228 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. raised its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 10.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 12,866 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,228 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up about 0.9% of Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC.’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd largest position. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $2,440,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Kera Capital Partners Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $720,000. Smith Salley Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 11.2% in the fourth quarter. Smith Salley Wealth Management now owns 77,461 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $14,663,000 after acquiring an additional 7,791 shares during the period. Financial Management Professionals Inc. increased its holdings in Alphabet by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 4,613 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $873,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. TruWealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. TruWealth Advisors LLC now owns 14,685 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,780,000 after acquiring an additional 92 shares during the period. Finally, Ameritas Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 18.7% during the 4th quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 44,572 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $8,438,000 after acquiring an additional 7,024 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Up 1.0 %

GOOGL stock opened at $198.05 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.42 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 0.98. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $184.74 and its 200 day moving average is $173.33. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $130.66 and a 12 month high of $202.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.95.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. The firm had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $72.85 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.55 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.03 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th were issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.61%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on GOOGL shares. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $190.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. China Renaissance raised Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Pivotal Research upped their price target on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $208.15.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.36, for a total value of $3,990,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,084,306 shares in the company, valued at $369,672,512.16. The trade was a 1.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.41, for a total value of $232,950.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 23,515 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,007,191.15. The trade was a 5.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 133,387 shares of company stock worth $24,368,654 in the last ninety days. 11.55% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.