2,153 Shares in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Acquired by Sierra Ocean LLC

Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 2,153 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $410,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Weiss Asset Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet during the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. raised its stake in 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 buying an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 33.0% during the fourth quarter. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 266 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Down 2.7 %

Shares of GOOG traded down $5.06 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $181.58. The company had a trading volume of 19,447,412 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,667,480. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $194.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $177.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $131.55 and a 1 year high of $208.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.21 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.00.

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

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 29,066 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.89, for a total value of $5,374,012.74. Following the transaction, the director now owns 272,466 shares in the company, valued at $50,376,238.74. The trade was a 9.64 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 1,367 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.41, for a total transaction of $232,950.47. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 23,515 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,007,191.15. The trade was a 5.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 116,609 shares of company stock worth $21,809,990 in the last ninety days. 12.99% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on GOOG shares. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research 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. Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $220.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on Alphabet from $212.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $209.13.

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.