Park Square Financial Group LLC Invests $1.28 Million in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Park Square Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 6,738 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,283,000. Alphabet accounts for about 0.9% of Park Square Financial Group LLC's holdings, making the stock its 24th biggest holding.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 117,991,725 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $22,470,344,000 after buying an additional 3,189,592 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 104,777,092 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $19,894,651,000 after purchasing an additional 1,219,606 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 6.7% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 91,236,069 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $17,376,706,000 after purchasing an additional 5,758,244 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 16.1% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 57,098,042 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $10,873,751,000 after purchasing an additional 7,917,625 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 39,148,500 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $7,455,571,000 after purchasing an additional 294,556 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Down 0.3%

GOOG stock traded down $0.60 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $173.38. 24,106,636 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 20,176,255. The company has a market cap of $2.10 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.54, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $160.72 and its 200-day moving average price is $176.47. 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 Inc. has a 52 week low of $142.66 and a 52 week 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 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 analyst estimates of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. Alphabet's quarterly revenue was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.89 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. This is a positive change from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.48%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is presently 9.36%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on GOOG shares. Benchmark reaffirmed a "negative" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Tigress Financial reaffirmed a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, May 2nd. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Alphabet from $209.00 to $173.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $220.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $203.94.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $105,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 6,813 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,192,275. This represents a 8.09% 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 link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 1,374 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.47, for a total transaction 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 164,654 shares of company stock worth $26,793,380 in the last quarter. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet 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.