Richmond Investment Services LLC Takes $595,000 Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Richmond Investment Services LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 3,123 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $595,000.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOG has been the subject of several research reports. Westpark Capital restated a "buy" rating and issued a $210.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Rosenblatt Securities raised Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC lowered shares of Alphabet from a "buy" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $203.94.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of Alphabet stock traded up $0.33 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $174.31. The company's stock had a trading volume of 10,965,621 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,099,755. The company has a market capitalization of $2.12 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $160.72 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $176.47. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $142.66 and a one year high of $208.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. The firm 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%. The business's revenue was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.89 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. 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%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is currently 9.36%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value of $105,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 6,813 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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 SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $1,837,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 261,966 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,844,050. The trade was a 3.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 164,654 shares of company stock worth $26,793,380 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

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.