Liberty Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 39.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 15,762 shares of the information services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 4,492 shares during the period. Liberty Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $3,002,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of GOOG. Swedbank AB raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 8,338,900 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,394,181,000 after buying an additional 51,226 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.5% during the 3rd 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 buying an additional 264,962 shares during the last quarter. Meridian Management Co. grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Meridian Management Co. now owns 31,701 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $5,300,000 after acquiring an additional 1,377 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 100,510 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $16,804,000 after acquiring an additional 2,326 shares during the period. Finally, Savvy Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 37.2% during the 3rd quarter. Savvy Advisors Inc. now owns 12,256 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,049,000 after acquiring an additional 3,322 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company's stock.
Analyst Ratings Changes
A number of research firms have recently commented on GOOG. Scotiabank raised their target price on Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $209.13.
Get Our Latest Stock Report on Alphabet
Alphabet Trading Up 1.8 %
GOOG opened at $169.00 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $188.44 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $178.02. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $140.01 and a 1-year high of $208.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.06 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03.
Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share 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%. Analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Alphabet Announces Dividend
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.94%.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 17,848 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,606,723.84. The trade was a 6.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total transaction of $3,239,868.40. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 43,981 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,471,620.22. The trade was a 27.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 95,682 shares of company stock valued at $17,901,024 in the last ninety days. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.
About Alphabet
(
Free Report)
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.
Recommended Stories
This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.
Before you consider Alphabet, you'll want to hear this.
MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Alphabet wasn't on the list.
While Alphabet currently has a Moderate Buy rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.
View The Five Stocks Here
MarketBeat just released its list of 10 cheap stocks that have been overlooked by the market and may be seriously undervalued. Enter your email address and below to see which companies made the list.
Get This Free Report
