Point72 Hong Kong Ltd Takes $1.22 Million Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Point72 Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in 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 purchased 6,400 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,219,000.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of GOOG. Sterling Financial Planning Inc. boosted its stake in Alphabet by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Financial Planning Inc. now owns 1,941 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $370,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 14,423 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,747,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the period. Harrell Investment Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Harrell Investment Partners LLC now owns 5,659 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,078,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the period. Ethos Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC now owns 7,300 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,395,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the period. Finally, Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 5,073 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $966,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Trading Up 1.2%

NASDAQ GOOG traded up $2.03 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $167.43. 35,833,672 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 19,733,367. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $142.66 and a 1-year high of $208.70. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $160.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $176.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.03 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.80, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. 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 announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. The firm had revenue of $90.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $89.30 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.89 earnings per share. Alphabet's revenue was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business 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 dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. This is a boost from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.50%. Alphabet's payout ratio is currently 9.36%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on GOOG shares. Tigress Financial reiterated a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Susquehanna reiterated a "positive" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. UBS Group dropped their target price on Alphabet from $209.00 to $173.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Rosenblatt Securities upgraded Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $203.94.

Insider Activity

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 2,824 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $187.43, for a total value of $529,302.32. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 15,024 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,815,948.32. This trade represents a 15.82% 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, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total value of $33,106.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,813 shares in the company, valued at $1,293,285.89. This trade represents a 2.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 179,324 shares of company stock valued at $30,153,353 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

About Alphabet

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.