Phoenix Financial Ltd. Buys 4,225 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Phoenix Financial Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 0.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 779,014 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 4,225 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for 2.1% of Phoenix Financial Ltd.'s portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest position. Phoenix Financial Ltd.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $148,357,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Finally, Sellwood Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth approximately $43,000. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ GOOG traded up $1.70 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $161.10. The stock had a trading volume of 7,649,005 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,377,205. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $170.50 and a 200 day moving average price of $177.99. The company has a market capitalization of $1.96 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.01, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.04. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $142.66 and a 1-year high of $208.70. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. On average, analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet's payout ratio is currently 9.94%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on GOOG. Benchmark reissued a "negative" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Citizens Jmp cut Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $208.71.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.56, for a total transaction of $5,153,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 2,834 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total value of $550,702.88. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 17,847 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,468,029.04. The trade was a 13.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 118,297 shares of company stock worth $20,804,770. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.