Everest Management Corp. Takes Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Everest Management Corp. purchased a new stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 26,060 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $4,963,000. Alphabet accounts for approximately 4.4% of Everest Management Corp.'s portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.5% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 11,024,276 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,843,149,000 after purchasing an additional 264,962 shares during the period. Morse Asset Management Inc purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $166,000. McIlrath & Eck LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 12.9% during the third quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 13,575 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,270,000 after acquiring an additional 1,546 shares during the last quarter. Passumpsic Savings Bank purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter valued at approximately $263,000. Finally, Advisory Resource Group boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 8.7% in the third quarter. Advisory Resource Group now owns 10,277 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,718,000 after acquiring an additional 822 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $220.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Citizens Jmp lowered shares of Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Westpark Capital assumed coverage on Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. They set a "buy" rating and a $210.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $210.88.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.16, for a total value of $5,075,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,685,196 shares of the company's stock, valued at $419,320,207.36. The trade was a 1.20 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,690 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.51, for a total transaction of $3,281,671.90. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 43,111 shares in the company, valued at $7,997,521.61. The trade was a 29.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 148,163 shares of company stock worth $25,361,647. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Alphabet Stock Down 1.4 %

GOOG traded down $2.14 on Friday, hitting $153.36. 19,461,666 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 19,427,163. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The company has a market cap of $1.87 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.04. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $167.16 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $177.55. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $142.66 and a twelve month high of $208.70.

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

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.94%.

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.