Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. Has $45.14 Million Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. lifted its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 5.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 238,480 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 11,969 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises 3.3% of Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd.’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $45,144,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Optivise Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 8.0% during the 4th quarter. Optivise Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,464 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,035,000 after buying an additional 403 shares in the last quarter. Community Bank N.A. increased its holdings in Alphabet by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. Community Bank N.A. now owns 46,173 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $8,741,000 after acquiring an additional 2,790 shares during the last quarter. Premier Fund Managers Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 30.0% during the 4th quarter. Premier Fund Managers Ltd now owns 61,792 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $11,816,000 after purchasing an additional 14,262 shares during the last quarter. Absolute Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 14.0% during the fourth quarter. Absolute Capital Management LLC now owns 2,096 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $401,000 after purchasing an additional 258 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Permanent Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at about $273,000. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Trading Down 0.8 %

NASDAQ:GOOGL opened at $160.61 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $161.69 and a 200-day simple moving average of $175.60. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $140.53 and a one year high of $207.05. The firm has a market cap of $1.96 trillion, a P/E ratio of 19.95, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. The company had revenue of $76.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.89 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate 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. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. 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 dividend yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is 9.36%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on GOOGL shares. Citizens Jmp cut Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. DZ Bank cut shares of Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $198.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $230.00 to $205.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Alphabet from $225.00 to $192.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have given a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $198.89.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 7,813 shares in the company, valued at $1,293,285.89. This trade represents a 2.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,690 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.51, for a total value of $3,281,671.90. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 43,111 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,997,521.61. The trade was a 29.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 148,163 shares of company stock valued at $25,361,647 over the last quarter. 11.55% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.