9,764 Shares in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Acquired by ZEGA Investments LLC

ZEGA Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 9,764 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,971,000.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth $2,427,000. Washington Trust Bank grew its position in Alphabet by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Washington Trust Bank now owns 8,539 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,626,000 after purchasing an additional 524 shares during the last quarter. Atlas Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. Atlas Wealth LLC now owns 49,676 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $9,460,000 after acquiring an additional 2,715 shares during the period. Mindset Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 9.4% in the fourth quarter. Mindset Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,923 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $937,000 after purchasing an additional 424 shares during the period. Finally, 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 32.9% during the fourth quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 343 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,368 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.55, for a total transaction of $262,040.40. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 20,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,961,445.55. This represents a 6.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total value of $3,239,868.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 43,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,471,620.22. This trade represents a 27.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 93,048 shares of company stock valued at $17,374,274. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOG stock opened at $166.25 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84. The firm has a market cap of $2.03 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $184.37 and its 200-day moving average price is $177.94. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $148.20 and a one year high of $208.70.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly 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 return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.48%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.94%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “negative” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” 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 given a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $209.13.

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.