GHP Investment Advisors Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

GHP Investment Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 1.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 115,968 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,110 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises about 1.0% of GHP Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 12th largest position. GHP Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $22,085,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in GOOG. Oakworth Capital Inc. grew its holdings in Alphabet by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Oakworth Capital Inc. now owns 179,492 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $34,182,000 after buying an additional 1,415 shares in the last quarter. McHugh Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,907,000. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 11,358 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,189,000 after acquiring an additional 628 shares during the period. Elm3 Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $441,000. Finally, Financial Advocates Investment Management increased its holdings in Alphabet by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 32,033 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $6,100,000 after acquiring an additional 1,405 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $187.14 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.95. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $131.55 and a one year high of $208.70. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $193.12 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $176.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.29 trillion, a P/E ratio of 23.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.00.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. Analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.94%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,340 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total transaction of $270,787.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 17,848 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,606,723.84. This represents a 6.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 37,134 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.02, for a total value of $6,870,532.68. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 282,832 shares in the company, valued at approximately $52,329,576.64. This represents a 11.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 89,529 shares of company stock worth $16,600,078. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on GOOG shares. Citizens Jmp downgraded shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Seaport Res Ptn raised Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Alphabet from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $209.13.

Alphabet Company 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.