Sphera Funds Management LTD. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 43,500 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $8,284,000. Alphabet accounts for approximately 1.5% of Sphera Funds Management LTD.'s holdings, making the stock its 23rd largest holding.
A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOG. Sterling Financial Planning Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Financial Planning Inc. now owns 1,941 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $370,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 14,423 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,747,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Harrell Investment Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Harrell Investment Partners LLC now owns 5,659 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,078,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC now owns 7,300 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,395,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the period. Finally, Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its position in Alphabet by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 5,073 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $966,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
Analyst Ratings Changes
Several brokerages have recently commented on GOOG. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. 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. Benchmark reiterated a "negative" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Scotiabank decreased their target price on Alphabet from $232.00 to $200.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, KeyCorp dropped their price target on Alphabet from $202.00 to $185.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $203.94.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on GOOG
Insider Activity
In related news, insider Ruth Porat sold 17,690 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.48, for a total transaction of $3,245,761.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,449,286 shares in the company, valued at approximately $265,914,995.28. This trade represents a 1.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total value of $33,106.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 7,813 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,293,285.89. This represents a 2.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 129,744 shares of company stock worth $20,968,366. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.
Alphabet Stock Up 0.7%
Shares of GOOG traded up $1.18 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $169.05. The company's stock had a trading volume of 12,169,039 shares, compared to its average volume of 22,321,301. The company has a market cap of $2.05 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.02, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The company has a fifty day moving average of $160.17 and a two-hundred day moving average of $176.74. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $142.66 and a twelve month high of $208.70.
Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. The firm had revenue of $90.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.89 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Alphabet Increases Dividend
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be issued a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.50%. This is an increase from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is presently 9.36%.
Alphabet Company Profile
(
Free Report)
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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