Ritholtz Wealth Management Acquires 5,832 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Ritholtz Wealth Management grew its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 5.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 110,620 shares of the information services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 5,832 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for about 0.6% of Ritholtz Wealth Management's holdings, making the stock its 25th largest position. Ritholtz Wealth Management's holdings in Alphabet were worth $21,066,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. M&G PLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the 3rd quarter valued at $2,240,000. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 14.4% during the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 116,776 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $19,642,000 after purchasing an additional 14,738 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 1.4% during the third quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 301,980 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $50,488,000 after acquiring an additional 4,292 shares in the last quarter. Stevens Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 172.9% in the third quarter. Stevens Capital Management LP now owns 91,237 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $15,254,000 after purchasing an additional 57,810 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Verdence Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 10.2% in the third quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 63,545 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $10,624,000 after purchasing an additional 5,892 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of Alphabet stock traded up $3.14 on Friday, hitting $197.55. The stock had a trading volume of 21,974,853 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,381,408. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $131.55 and a twelve month high of $202.88. The business's 50 day moving average is $185.92 and its two-hundred day moving average is $174.93. The company has a quick ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The stock 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 (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $88.27 billion for 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 firm's revenue for the quarter was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.55 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.03 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th were paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 10.61%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 1,367 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 approximately $4,516,745.58. The trade was a 4.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 441 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.06, for a total value of $75,437.46. Following the sale, the director now owns 16,490 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,820,779.40. The trade was a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on GOOG. UBS Group boosted their price target on Alphabet from $187.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Citizens Jmp lowered Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Alphabet from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Citigroup upped their target price on Alphabet from $212.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn raised Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average 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.