Vega Investment Solutions Buys Shares of 37,768 Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Vega Investment Solutions bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 37,768 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $7,193,000. Alphabet accounts for 5.9% of Vega Investment Solutions' holdings, making the stock its 5th largest holding.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of GOOG. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.56, for a total transaction of $5,153,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,717,696 shares in the company, valued at $430,917,877.76. This trade represents a 1.18% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 1,374 shares of the firm's 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 15,024 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,606,213.28. This represents a 8.38% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 112,054 shares of company stock worth $17,722,605 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Trading Up 1.1%

GOOG stock opened at $171.98 on Friday. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $160.34 and its 200-day simple moving average is $176.63. 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. The firm has a market cap of $2.09 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.36, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01.

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 company had revenue of $90.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 prior year, the firm earned $1.89 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. This is an increase from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.36%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Alphabet from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. KeyCorp lowered their price target on Alphabet from $202.00 to $185.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $220.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Three 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $203.94.

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.

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