Fairtree Asset Management Pty Ltd Purchases Shares of 24,465 Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Fairtree Asset Management Pty Ltd bought a new position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 24,465 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $4,659,000. Alphabet comprises about 4.5% of Fairtree Asset Management Pty Ltd's investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest holding.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in GOOG. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth $38,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. acquired a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $43,000. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on GOOG shares. Benchmark reaffirmed a "negative" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Westpark Capital reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $210.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Susquehanna restated a "positive" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned 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.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.2%

NASDAQ GOOG traded down $2.09 during trading on Friday, reaching $170.87. 36,230,934 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 20,270,754. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $142.66 and a fifty-two week high of $208.70. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The firm has a market cap of $2.07 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $160.88 and its 200 day moving average price is $176.30.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. The business had revenue of $90.23 billion during 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 firm's quarterly revenue was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.89 EPS. Analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. This is a boost from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet's payout ratio is 9.36%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 11,764 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.84, for a total value of $1,962,705.76. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 49,037 shares in the company, valued at $8,181,333.08. The trade was a 19.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 1,374 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.47, for a total value of $238,347.78. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 15,024 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,606,213.28. The trade was a 8.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 164,533 shares of company stock worth $26,772,774. 12.99% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.