Rahlfs Capital LLC Invests $3.53 Million in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Rahlfs Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 18,635 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,528,000. Alphabet accounts for approximately 3.3% of Rahlfs Capital LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest position.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of GOOGL. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Alphabet by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 11,283,594 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,871,384,000 after purchasing an additional 337,031 shares during the period. Garden State Investment Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 30.1% in the third quarter. Garden State Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 13,536 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,246,000 after buying an additional 3,132 shares during the period. Hollow Brook Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 3.5% in the third quarter. Hollow Brook Wealth Management LLC now owns 46,898 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $7,778,000 after acquiring an additional 1,578 shares during the last quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. grew its holdings in Alphabet by 59.6% during the 3rd quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. now owns 76,087 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $12,619,000 after acquiring an additional 28,423 shares during the period. Finally, Harmony Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Harmony Asset Management LLC now owns 51,749 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $8,583,000 after acquiring an additional 1,362 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GOOGL has been the topic of several recent research reports. Westpark Capital upgraded Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Citigroup decreased their target price on Alphabet from $229.00 to $195.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on shares of Alphabet from $235.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $180.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $205.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $206.51.

Alphabet Stock Up 2.8 %

GOOGL stock opened at $157.14 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $140.53 and a 1-year high of $207.05. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $168.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $176.22. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.92 trillion, a PE ratio of 19.52, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 EPS 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%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.51%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.94%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total value of $33,106.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 7,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,293,285.89. The trade was a 2.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.56, for a total transaction of $5,153,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,717,696 shares in the company, valued at approximately $430,917,877.76. This represents a 1.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 119,797 shares of company stock worth $21,089,470 over the last quarter. Company 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.