Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC Has $989.47 Million Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 326.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,195,707 shares of the information services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 3,978,644 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for about 3.3% of Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC's holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $989,471,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth approximately $43,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.16, for a total transaction of $5,075,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,685,196 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $419,320,207.36. This trade represents a 1.20 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total value of $33,106.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,813 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,293,285.89. The trade was a 2.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 148,163 shares of company stock valued at $25,361,647 over the last three months. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of GOOG traded up $2.38 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $163.85. 35,100,087 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 19,311,734. The business has a fifty day moving average of $164.25 and a 200-day moving average of $177.25. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $2.00 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.35, a price-to-earnings-growth 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.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.04 by $0.77. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. The business had revenue of $90.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $89.30 billion. Analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is currently 9.94%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on GOOG. Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $220.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $171.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday. KeyCorp cut their price target on Alphabet from $202.00 to $185.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Citizens Jmp lowered Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $203.94.

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.