Verde Capital Management Increases Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Verde Capital Management increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 9.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,303 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,588 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up 1.0% of Verde Capital Management’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. Verde Capital Management’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $3,486,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOG. Weiss Asset Management LP bought a new position in Alphabet during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. HWG Holdings LP purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the second quarter valued at $40,000. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. increased its position in Alphabet by 87.3% in the third quarter. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. now owns 251 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 32.3% during the third quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 344 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Trading Up 1.2 %

NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $201.90 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $187.95 and a 200-day simple moving average of $175.31. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $131.55 and a one year high of $203.84. The firm has a market cap of $2.47 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a current ratio of 1.95.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. The company had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $86.39 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.55 earnings per share. Alphabet’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th were paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.40%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.61%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GOOG has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $182.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Alphabet from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $205.13.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.41, for a total transaction of $232,950.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 23,515 shares in the company, valued at $4,007,191.15. The trade was a 5.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.22, for a total transaction of $291,330.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 23,324 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,529,987.28. This trade represents a 6.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 133,387 shares of company stock worth $24,368,654. 12.99% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.