West Coast Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 137,098 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 1,811 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises approximately 2.9% of West Coast Financial LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest position. West Coast Financial LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $25,953,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp grew its stake in Alphabet by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 222,555,548 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $36,910,838,000 after acquiring an additional 743,369 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 2.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 134,030,679 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $22,154,651,000 after purchasing an additional 2,626,431 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in Alphabet by 7.7% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 63,667,407 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $10,559,240,000 after buying an additional 4,567,275 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.5% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 49,857,900 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $8,268,933,000 after purchasing an additional 1,237,385 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Alphabet by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 37,233,079 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $6,175,106,000 after buying an additional 523,416 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
GOOGL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. China Renaissance raised shares of Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $190.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Piper Sandler reissued 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. Wolfe Research upped their target price on Alphabet from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Roth Mkm lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $206.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $208.15.
Check Out Our Latest Research Report on Alphabet
GOOGL stock traded up $3.09 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $196.00. The company's stock had a trading volume of 27,621,897 shares, compared to its average volume of 23,105,888. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $184.43 and its 200-day simple moving average is $173.42. The company has a quick ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $130.66 and a 52 week high of $201.42. The stock has a market cap of $2.40 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 0.98.
Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. The business had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $72.85 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.55 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.03 EPS for the current year.
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 $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is currently 10.61%.
In other Alphabet news, Director Frances Arnold sold 441 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.06, for a total transaction of $75,437.46. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 16,490 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,820,779.40. This trade represents a 2.60 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 1,367 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.41, for a total transaction of $232,950.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 23,515 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,007,191.15. The trade was a 5.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 133,387 shares of company stock valued at $24,368,654. 11.55% of the stock is owned by company insiders.
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.
Before you consider Alphabet, you'll want to hear this.
MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Alphabet wasn't on the list.
While Alphabet currently has a "Moderate Buy" rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.