Sphera Management Technology Funds Ltd Acquires Shares of 46,575 Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Sphera Management Technology Funds Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 46,575 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $8,870,000. Alphabet makes up about 5.1% of Sphera Management Technology Funds Ltd's investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Visionary Wealth Advisors boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. Visionary Wealth Advisors now owns 19,086 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $3,635,000 after purchasing an additional 1,075 shares in the last quarter. Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC now owns 23,235 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $4,425,000 after acquiring an additional 261 shares in the last quarter. St. Clair Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $3,354,000. Triglav Skladi D.O.O. bought a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $16,157,000. Finally, Texas Bank & Trust Co bought a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $4,407,000. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GOOG has been the topic of several research reports. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Citigroup reiterated a "sell" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Needham & Company LLC downgraded shares of Alphabet from a "buy" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $209.00 to $173.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock 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 assigned a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $203.94.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 29,066 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.89, for a total transaction of $5,374,012.74. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 272,466 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $50,376,238.74. This represents a 9.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 2,824 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $187.43, for a total transaction of $529,302.32. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 15,024 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,815,948.32. This represents a 15.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 179,324 shares of company stock valued at $30,153,353. Insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Up 3.4%

GOOG opened at $159.58 on Tuesday. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $142.66 and a twelve month high of $208.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.94 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.82, a PEG 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 firm has a 50 day moving average price of $160.65 and a 200-day moving average price of $176.97.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $90.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $89.30 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.89 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current 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 issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This is a boost from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.

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