Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 12,337 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,349,000. Alphabet accounts for approximately 1.3% of Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest position.
Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 9.3% during the 4th quarter. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC now owns 28,044 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $5,341,000 after purchasing an additional 2,390 shares during the period. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC now owns 31,967 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $6,088,000 after acquiring an additional 380 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 24.9% during the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,539,691 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $483,659,000 after acquiring an additional 506,187 shares during the period. AFG Fiduciary Services Limited Partnership acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at $220,000. Finally, XML Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 7.4% during the fourth quarter. XML Financial LLC now owns 20,665 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $3,936,000 after acquiring an additional 1,427 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company's stock.
Alphabet Price Performance
Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG traded down $0.60 on Wednesday, reaching $173.38. 24,106,636 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 20,157,700. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $142.66 and a fifty-two week high of $208.70. The company's 50 day moving average is $160.72 and its 200-day moving average is $176.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.10 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.54, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84.
Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. The business had revenue of $90.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.30 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.89 earnings per share. Alphabet's revenue was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Alphabet Increases Dividend
The company also recently declared 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. This is an increase from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is 9.36%.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
GOOG has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC lowered shares of Alphabet from a "buy" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $171.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Susquehanna reiterated a "positive" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $203.94.
View Our Latest Report on GOOG
Insider Activity at Alphabet
In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total value of $33,106.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 7,813 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,293,285.89. This represents a 2.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 1,374 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.47, for a total transaction of $238,347.78. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 15,024 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,606,213.28. This trade represents a 8.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 164,654 shares of company stock worth $26,793,380. 12.99% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.
About Alphabet
(
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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