Ibex Wealth Advisors Purchases New Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Ibex Wealth Advisors acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 64,650 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $12,238,000. Alphabet accounts for approximately 1.4% of Ibex Wealth Advisors’ investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest position.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. LMR Partners LLP purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Alphabet by 518.8% in the 4th quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares during the period. Denver PWM LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 25.4% during the 3rd 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. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 2nd quarter worth $53,000. Finally, Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 3rd quarter worth about $66,000. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $191.60 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $190.83 and its 200-day moving average price is $174.52. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $130.66 and a 52-week high of $207.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a current ratio of 1.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.35 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.99.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. Equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.02 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 9.94%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GOOGL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their target price on Alphabet from $215.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Seaport Res Ptn raised Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Scotiabank raised shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $210.62.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.67, for a total transaction of $3,975,075.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,061,806 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $364,259,266.02. The trade was a 1.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,340 shares of Alphabet 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 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 89,529 shares of company stock worth $16,600,078 over the last three months. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

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.