Westbourne Investments Inc. Takes Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Westbourne Investments Inc. purchased a new stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 15,710 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,992,000. Alphabet comprises 1.8% of Westbourne Investments Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest position.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth $39,000. Finally, Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at about $43,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 1,340 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total transaction of $270,787.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 17,848 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,606,723.84. This represents a 6.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 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 have sold a total of 148,164 shares of company stock worth $25,357,390 over the last quarter. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Stock Up 1.9 %

Shares of GOOG traded up $3.02 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $165.81. The company's stock had a trading volume of 16,826,135 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,189,008. The company's 50-day moving average is $162.25 and its 200-day moving average is $177.09. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $142.66 and a 52-week high of $208.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.02 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.60, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.04.

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

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.51%. This is a boost from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is presently 9.36%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Scotiabank decreased their price objective 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. Susquehanna restated a "positive" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday. Citigroup reiterated a "sell" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Alphabet from $209.00 to $173.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $203.94.

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.