Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Stake Increased by McAlister Sweet & Associates Inc.

McAlister Sweet & Associates Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 1.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 28,733 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 425 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for about 3.9% of McAlister Sweet & Associates Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest position. McAlister Sweet & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $5,439,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Lantz Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 10.8% during the second quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 4,622 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $842,000 after buying an additional 452 shares during the period. Spectrum Wealth Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet during the 2nd quarter valued at about $218,000. Vance Wealth Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter. Vance Wealth Inc. now owns 3,089 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $563,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. Tobam boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 64.3% during the second quarter. Tobam now owns 24,833 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $4,523,000 after purchasing an additional 9,718 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV increased its holdings in Alphabet by 2.7% during the second quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 71,115 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $12,954,000 after buying an additional 1,876 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL traded down $1.38 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $195.49. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 26,429,953 shares, compared to its average volume of 23,676,129. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $130.66 and a 12-month high of $201.42. The company has a market cap of $2.39 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.98. 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 business’s 50 day simple moving average is $180.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $172.60.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $72.85 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.55 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 10.61%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $190.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wolfe Research boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Tigress Financial raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $210.00 price objective (up previously from $200.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $206.82.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,834 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.55, for a total value of $559,856.70. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 20,681 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,085,531.55. This represents a 12.05 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.95, for a total value of $247,425.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 26,324 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,342,143.80. The trade was a 5.39 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 155,887 shares of company stock valued at $27,996,356 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

About Alphabet

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.