Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) is Auxier Asset Management’s 7th Largest Position

Auxier Asset Management increased its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 1.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 88,697 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,265 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up about 2.6% of Auxier Asset Management’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest position. Auxier Asset Management’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $16,790,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Blue Sky Capital Consultants Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $5,141,000. Warm Springs Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $5,762,000. Richmond Investment Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $845,000. Invst LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Invst LLC now owns 25,987 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $4,919,000 after buying an additional 512 shares during the period. Finally, Cache Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth $6,495,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GOOGL has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. UBS Group set a $195.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, April 25th. Susquehanna decreased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $225.00 to $220.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Westpark Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Mizuho reduced their price target on Alphabet from $230.00 to $205.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $199.75.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 11,764 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.84, for a total value of $1,962,705.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 49,037 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,181,333.08. This represents a 19.35% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,374 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.47, for a total transaction of $238,347.78. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 15,024 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,606,213.28. This trade represents a 8.38% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 164,654 shares of company stock valued at $26,793,380 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 11.64% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOGL stock opened at $168.47 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $140.53 and a 12-month high of $207.05. The business’s 50 day moving average is $158.57 and its two-hundred day moving average is $174.88. The company has a market capitalization of $2.04 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. The business had revenue of $76.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.30 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.89 EPS. Analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. This is a boost from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.50%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.36%.

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.