Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) is Grace & Mercy Foundation Inc.’s 2nd Largest Position

Grace & Mercy Foundation Inc. reduced its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 6.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 345,270 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 23,530 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for approximately 14.7% of Grace & Mercy Foundation Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Grace & Mercy Foundation Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $65,360,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bennett Selby Investments LP boosted its position in Alphabet by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Bennett Selby Investments LP now owns 1,354 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $256,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC now owns 1,293 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $245,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Conrad Siegel Investment Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Alphabet by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Conrad Siegel Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 9,845 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,864,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 2,381 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $457,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Addison Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 7,527 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,425,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.0 %

Alphabet stock opened at $152.75 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $140.53 and a 1 year high of $207.05. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $158.93 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $175.10. The firm has a market cap of $1.85 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. The company had revenue of $76.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $89.30 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.89 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be issued a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.55%. This is a boost from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.36%.

Insider Activity

In other Alphabet news, insider Ruth Porat sold 17,690 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.48, for a total transaction of $3,245,761.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 1,449,286 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $265,914,995.28. This trade represents a 1.21 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,717,696 shares in the company, valued at $430,917,877.76. This trade represents a 1.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 179,324 shares of company stock worth $30,153,353 over the last 90 days. 11.64% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday. Roth Mkm restated a “buy” rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. DA Davidson decreased their price target on Alphabet from $200.00 to $160.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Wedbush set a $190.00 target price on Alphabet and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $199.75.

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.