Occidental Asset Management LLC Buys 17,381 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Occidental Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 89.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 36,856 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 17,381 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for about 1.1% of Occidental Asset Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest position. Occidental Asset Management LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $7,019,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Weiss Asset Management LP bought a new position in Alphabet during the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 9,200.0% during the second quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 186 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares during the period. HWG Holdings LP acquired a new position in Alphabet during the second quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Finally, Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. raised 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 period. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on GOOG shares. Phillip Securities upgraded shares of Alphabet to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $212.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their target price on Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $200.56.

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

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.78, for a total value of $1,898,190.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 330,466 shares of the company's stock, valued at $59,741,643.48. This trade represents a 3.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.36, for a total value of $3,990,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,084,306 shares in the company, valued at approximately $369,672,512.16. This represents a 1.07 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 133,387 shares of company stock worth $24,368,654. 12.99% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet 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.