Jones Financial Companies Lllp Increases Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 21.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 119,583 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 20,993 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $22,773,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. M&G PLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the third quarter valued at approximately $2,240,000. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 6.8% in the fourth quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC now owns 16,248 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,094,000 after buying an additional 1,041 shares in the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 14.4% in the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 116,776 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $19,642,000 after buying an additional 14,738 shares in the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 301,980 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $50,488,000 after buying an additional 4,292 shares during the period. Finally, Requisite Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth about $927,000. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $172.61 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $131.55 and a 52 week high of $208.70. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $191.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $177.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.10 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.00.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. Research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 9.94%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on GOOG shares. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $209.13.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,374 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.47, for a total value of $238,347.78. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 15,024 shares in the company, valued at $2,606,213.28. This represents a 8.38 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Ruth Porat sold 17,690 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.48, for a total transaction of $3,245,761.20. Following the sale, the insider now owns 1,449,286 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $265,914,995.28. This represents a 1.21 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 134,316 shares of company stock worth $25,062,887. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

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.