Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC Takes $3.68 Million Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 19,296 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $3,675,000. Alphabet makes up about 3.4% of Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOG. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 6.8% during the 4th quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC now owns 16,248 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $3,094,000 after purchasing an additional 1,041 shares in the last quarter. Harvest Investment Services LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Harvest Investment Services LLC now owns 4,329 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $824,000 after acquiring an additional 138 shares in the last quarter. North Forty Two & Co. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth about $281,000. SageView Advisory Group LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 140.6% in the 4th quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC now owns 14,734 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,806,000 after buying an additional 8,610 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Requisite Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $927,000. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total transaction of $33,106.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 7,813 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,293,285.89. The trade was a 2.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.56, for a total value of $5,153,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,717,696 shares in the company, valued at $430,917,877.76. This represents a 1.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 179,324 shares of company stock worth $30,153,353 in the last three months. 12.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GOOG has been the subject of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Scotiabank reduced their price target on Alphabet from $232.00 to $200.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 21st. KeyCorp reduced their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $202.00 to $185.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $171.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a "sell" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $203.94.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of GOOG traded down $1.41 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $165.40. 22,668,205 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 19,644,516. 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 Inc. has a 52 week low of $142.66 and a 52 week high of $208.70. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $160.21 and a 200-day moving average of $176.79. The stock has a market cap of $2.01 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.55, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. The company had revenue of $90.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $89.30 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.89 earnings per share. Alphabet's quarterly revenue was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.51%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.36%.

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.