PCA Investment Advisory Services Inc. Acquires 61 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

PCA Investment Advisory Services Inc. increased its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 0.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 12,891 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 61 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises about 1.1% of PCA Investment Advisory Services Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. PCA Investment Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $2,440,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of GOOGL. Schear Investment Advisers LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 17.0% in the third quarter. Schear Investment Advisers LLC now owns 33,751 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $5,598,000 after acquiring an additional 4,905 shares during the last quarter. Trinity Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Trinity Financial Advisors LLC now owns 4,423 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $771,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. grew its position in Alphabet by 27.9% during the 3rd quarter. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 25,275 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $4,192,000 after purchasing an additional 5,516 shares during the last quarter. abrdn plc increased its stake in Alphabet by 10.7% during the 3rd quarter. abrdn plc now owns 6,305,717 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,037,196,000 after purchasing an additional 611,233 shares in the last quarter. Finally, StoneCrest Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in Alphabet by 0.7% in the third quarter. StoneCrest Wealth Management Inc. now owns 21,509 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,567,000 after buying an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Performance

GOOGL opened at $189.66 on Wednesday. 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 $2.32 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.15, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a fifty day moving average of $183.45 and a 200 day moving average of $173.04. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $130.66 and a fifty-two week high of $201.42.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $72.85 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.55 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th were 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 was Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 10.61%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,834 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.55, for a total transaction of $559,856.70. Following the sale, 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.80, for a total value of $284,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 21,824 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,142,195.20. This represents a 6.43 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 130,553 shares of company stock worth $23,817,951. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. China Renaissance upgraded shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $190.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Alphabet from $204.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Scotiabank raised Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Alphabet from $212.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $208.15.

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.