Stifel Financial Corp Grows Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Stifel Financial Corp increased its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 2.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,535,678 shares of the information services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 84,059 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up about 0.7% of Stifel Financial Corp's holdings, making the stock its 21st largest holding. Stifel Financial Corp's holdings in Alphabet were worth $673,344,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at $5,166,070,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,551,533,000. GQG Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 181,679.1% during the 4th quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 7,225,721 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,376,066,000 after acquiring an additional 7,221,746 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in Alphabet by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 91,236,069 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $17,376,706,000 after purchasing an additional 5,758,244 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 5,712.8% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,367,831 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $831,810,000 after purchasing an additional 4,292,689 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.56, for a total value of $5,153,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,717,696 shares in the company, valued at $430,917,877.76. The trade was a 1.18 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 1,340 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 17,848 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,606,723.84. This trade represents a 6.98 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 148,163 shares of company stock worth $25,361,647 over the last 90 days. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Price Performance

Alphabet stock traded up $3.75 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $161.47. The company's stock had a trading volume of 30,331,145 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,463,265. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.97 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.06, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.04. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $142.66 and a fifty-two week high of $208.70. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $165.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $177.19. 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 (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.04 by $0.77. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company 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. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is currently 9.94%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Westpark Capital initiated coverage on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. They set a "buy" rating and a $210.00 price objective on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Citizens Jmp downgraded Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Citigroup restated a "sell" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $208.38.

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.