Wilkins Miller Wealth Management LLC Takes $322,000 Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Wilkins Miller Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 1,692 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $322,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 9.3% during the fourth quarter. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC now owns 28,044 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $5,341,000 after purchasing an additional 2,390 shares during the period. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC now owns 31,967 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $6,088,000 after purchasing an additional 380 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 24.9% during the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,539,691 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $483,659,000 after buying an additional 506,187 shares during the period. AFG Fiduciary Services Limited Partnership purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at about $220,000. Finally, XML Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 7.4% in the fourth quarter. XML Financial LLC now owns 20,665 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $3,936,000 after buying an additional 1,427 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on GOOG shares. Westpark Capital restated a "buy" rating and set a $210.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, April 25th. Citigroup reiterated a "sell" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted 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. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on Alphabet from $209.00 to $173.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. 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 issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $203.94.

Alphabet Stock Up 2.6%

NASDAQ:GOOG traded up $4.39 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $173.98. The company's stock had a trading volume of 24,291,303 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,134,876. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $142.66 and a one year high of $208.70. The business's 50-day moving average is $160.54 and its 200-day moving average is $176.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84. The company has a market cap of $2.11 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $90.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. The firm's revenue was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.89 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.48%. This is a boost from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. Alphabet's payout ratio is presently 9.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 1,374 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, 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 value of $5,153,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 164,654 shares of company stock valued at $26,793,380. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

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.