Cypress Asset Management Inc. TX bought a new stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 57,215 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $10,939,000. Alphabet comprises 2.7% of Cypress Asset Management Inc. TX's holdings, making the stock its 9th largest holding.
A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of GOOG. Sterling Financial Planning Inc. increased its stake in Alphabet by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Financial Planning Inc. now owns 1,941 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $370,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 14,423 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,747,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Harrell Investment Partners LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Harrell Investment Partners LLC now owns 5,659 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,078,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the period. Ethos Financial Group LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC now owns 7,300 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,395,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the period. Finally, Hutchinson Capital Management CA raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Hutchinson Capital Management CA now owns 3,555 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $677,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities raised shares of Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $232.00 to $200.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Westpark Capital reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $210.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC cut Alphabet from a "buy" rating to a "cautious" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Three investment 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $203.94.
Read Our Latest Stock Report on Alphabet
Insider Activity at Alphabet
In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $105,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 6,813 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,192,275. This trade represents a 8.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 11,764 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.84, for a total transaction of $1,962,705.76. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 49,037 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,181,333.08. This represents a 19.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 164,654 shares of company stock worth $26,793,380 over the last quarter. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.
Alphabet Stock Performance
Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG traded down $0.82 on Thursday, reaching $172.56. 12,347,197 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,146,811. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.09 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.42, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $142.66 and a fifty-two week high of $208.70. The business's 50-day moving average is $160.86 and its two-hundred day moving average is $176.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.
Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. The business had revenue of $90.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.89 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.
Alphabet Increases Dividend
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th will be given a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. This is a positive change from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is currently 9.36%.
Alphabet Company Profile
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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.
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