Empirical Asset Management LLC Acquires 124,753 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Empirical Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 720.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 142,080 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 124,753 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises about 0.8% of Empirical Asset Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest position. Empirical Asset Management LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $27,058,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of GOOG. Weiss Asset Management LP acquired a new position in Alphabet during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 9,200.0% in the 2nd quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 186 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in Alphabet in the 3rd quarter worth $33,000. HWG Holdings LP acquired a new position in Alphabet during the 2nd quarter worth $40,000. Finally, Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 87.3% in the third quarter. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. now owns 251 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of Alphabet stock traded up $3.14 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $197.55. 21,974,853 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 16,381,408. The company has a market cap of $2.42 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 0.99. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $131.55 and a fifty-two week high of $202.88. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $185.92 and a 200 day simple moving average of $174.85.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $86.39 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.55 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is currently 10.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 1,367 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.42, for a total value of $234,331.14. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 26,349 shares in the company, valued at $4,516,745.58. This trade represents a 4.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 37,134 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now owns 282,832 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 133,387 shares of company stock worth $24,368,654. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOG has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Seaport Res Ptn raised Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $187.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $182.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Phillip Securities raised Alphabet to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Scotiabank began coverage on Alphabet in a research note on Friday, October 11th. They set a "sector outperform" rating and a $212.00 price target on the stock. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $200.56.

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.