Ashton Thomas Securities LLC Grows Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Ashton Thomas Securities LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 29.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,176 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 3,887 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up approximately 0.9% of Ashton Thomas Securities LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $3,270,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 6.8% in the fourth quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC now owns 16,248 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $3,094,000 after purchasing an additional 1,041 shares during the last quarter. North Forty Two & Co. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at $281,000. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 14.4% during the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 116,776 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $19,642,000 after acquiring an additional 14,738 shares during the period. Requisite Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth about $927,000. Finally, Stevens Capital Management LP raised its stake in Alphabet by 172.9% in the 3rd quarter. Stevens Capital Management LP now owns 91,237 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $15,254,000 after acquiring an additional 57,810 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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Alphabet Stock Down 0.9 %

GOOG traded down $1.56 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $165.58. The company's stock had a trading volume of 9,697,175 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,816,002. The stock's 50-day moving average is $182.96 and its 200-day moving average is $178.36. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $148.20 and a 1 year high of $208.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.02 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.53, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

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

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet's payout ratio is currently 9.94%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Oppenheimer raised their price target on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $209.13.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 1,340 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total transaction of $270,787.20. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 17,848 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,606,723.84. The trade was a 6.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 29,066 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.89, for a total transaction of $5,374,012.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 272,466 shares of the company's stock, valued at $50,376,238.74. This represents a 9.64 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 93,048 shares of company stock worth $17,374,274. 12.99% of the stock is owned by 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.