6,494 Shares in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Bought by Centerpoint Advisory Group

Centerpoint Advisory Group acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 6,494 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,237,000. Alphabet accounts for about 1.2% of Centerpoint Advisory Group's investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest holding.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Weiss Asset Management LP purchased a new position in Alphabet during the third quarter valued at $25,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 3rd quarter worth $33,000. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 87.3% in the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. now owns 251 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 33.0% in the 4th quarter. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 266 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Down 2.3 %

Alphabet stock traded down $4.37 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $182.27. The stock had a trading volume of 11,208,700 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,409,787. The company has a market cap of $2.22 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.64, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.00. The business's 50 day moving average price is $194.22 and its 200-day moving average price is $177.08. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $131.55 and a 52 week high of $208.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.44%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is presently 9.94%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,690 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.51, for a total transaction of $3,281,671.90. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 43,111 shares in the company, valued at $7,997,521.61. This represents a 29.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 37,134 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.02, for a total transaction of $6,870,532.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 282,832 shares of the company's stock, valued at $52,329,576.64. The trade was a 11.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 116,609 shares of company stock valued at $21,809,990 in the last quarter. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on GOOG. Pivotal Research lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $187.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned 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 an average price target of $209.13.

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.