Smith Salley & Associates Buys 2,010 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Smith Salley & Associates grew its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 3.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 55,176 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,010 shares during the quarter. Smith Salley & Associates’ holdings in Alphabet were worth $7,708,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 1,919.4% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 477,035,902 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $45,628,484,000 after purchasing an additional 453,413,389 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in Alphabet by 1,900.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 217,154,306 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $20,770,809,000 after buying an additional 206,300,042 shares during the period. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 111,197.8% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 170,420,243 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $15,036,178,000 after acquiring an additional 170,267,122 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in Alphabet by 1,759.2% in the third quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 116,116,066 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $11,106,502,000 after acquiring an additional 109,870,525 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth approximately $8,335,063,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOGL opened at $157.73 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.96 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.19, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a quick ratio of 2.10, a current ratio of 2.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $145.33 and a 200-day moving average price of $139.72. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $102.63 and a twelve month high of $160.22.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The information services provider reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $86.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $70.77 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 24.01% and a return on equity of 27.22%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.05 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 6.78 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on GOOGL. Wolfe Research lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Rosenblatt Securities dropped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $174.00 to $172.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $153.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $160.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Susquehanna raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $155.61.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, SVP Prabhakar Raghavan sold 3,258 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.97, for a total value of $508,150.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 144,685 shares in the company, valued at $22,566,519.45. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director Frances Arnold sold 230 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.06, for a total transaction of $35,433.80. Following the sale, the director now owns 15,104 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,326,922.24. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Prabhakar Raghavan sold 3,258 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.97, for a total transaction of $508,150.26. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 144,685 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,566,519.45. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 250,539 shares of company stock worth $35,906,259 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

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.