Infinitum Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 50,000 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $9,522,000. Alphabet makes up about 5.0% of Infinitum Asset Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 5th largest holding.
A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GOOG. Sterling Financial Planning Inc. raised its position in Alphabet by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Financial Planning Inc. now owns 1,941 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $370,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 14,423 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,747,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Harrell Investment Partners LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Harrell Investment Partners LLC now owns 5,659 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,078,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC now owns 7,300 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,395,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hutchinson Capital Management CA lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Hutchinson Capital Management CA now owns 3,555 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $677,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
Insider Transactions at Alphabet
In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.56, for a total transaction of $5,153,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,717,696 shares in the company, valued at approximately $430,917,877.76. This trade represents a 1.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $105,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,813 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,192,275. The trade was a 8.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 164,654 shares of company stock worth $26,793,380 in the last three months. Insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
A number of research firms have weighed in on GOOG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Rosenblatt Securities raised Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC lowered shares of Alphabet from a "buy" rating to a "cautious" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $203.94.
Read Our Latest Stock Report on Alphabet
Alphabet Trading Up 2.6%
NASDAQ GOOG traded up $4.39 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $173.98. 24,291,303 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 20,134,876. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average of $160.54 and a two-hundred day moving average of $176.49. The firm has a market cap of $2.11 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.61, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $142.66 and a 12-month high of $208.70.
Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. The company had revenue of $90.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.89 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.
Alphabet Increases Dividend
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be issued a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. This is an increase from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.48%. Alphabet's payout ratio is 9.36%.
Alphabet Company Profile
(
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.
See Also

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
Which stocks are hedge funds and endowments buying in today's market? Enter your email address and we'll send you MarketBeat's list of thirteen stocks that institutional investors are buying now.
Get This Free Report