Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Buys 4,717 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 6.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 83,614 shares of the information services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 4,717 shares during the period. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management's holdings in Alphabet were worth $11,784,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in GOOG. Dakota Wealth Management grew its position in Alphabet by 13.9% in the third quarter. Dakota Wealth Management now owns 152,936 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $20,165,000 after purchasing an additional 18,671 shares in the last quarter. Mayfair Advisory Group LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 25.6% in the third quarter. Mayfair Advisory Group LLC now owns 2,210 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $308,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. Verus Financial Partners Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet in the third quarter valued at $200,000. Financial Management Network Inc. grew its position in Alphabet by 4.5% in the third quarter. Financial Management Network Inc. now owns 17,940 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,445,000 after purchasing an additional 770 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canvas Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 1.5% in the third quarter. Canvas Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,010 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,095,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 682 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.49, for a total value of $93,086.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 28,602 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,903,886.98. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 682 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.49, for a total transaction of $93,086.18. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 28,602 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,903,886.98. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 48,076 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.20, for a total transaction of $6,836,407.20. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,725 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,809,495. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 275,129 shares of company stock worth $40,382,765. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

GOOG traded up $0.84 during trading on Monday, hitting $169.83. The stock had a trading volume of 15,132,966 shares, compared to its average volume of 22,754,559. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 2.15 and a quick ratio of 2.15. The firm has a market cap of $2.10 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $152.08 and a 200-day moving average price of $143.95. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $105.79 and a one year high of $176.42.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.38. Alphabet had a net margin of 25.90% and a return on equity of 29.52%. The company had revenue of $80.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $78.75 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.17 earnings per share. Alphabet's quarterly revenue was up 15.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.66 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a -- dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 10th will be given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 10th.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Raymond James raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $165.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Susquehanna boosted their price target on Alphabet from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Alphabet from $154.00 to $174.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Alphabet from $172.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $165.67.

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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