Grantvest Financial Group LLC Makes New $301,000 Investment in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Grantvest Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 1,581 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $301,000.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 114,802,133 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $19,193,768,000 after acquiring an additional 5,655,022 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 103,557,486 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $17,247,208,000 after purchasing an additional 259,213 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 10.3% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 33,334,082 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $5,573,125,000 after purchasing an additional 3,113,395 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Alphabet by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 30,824,307 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $5,870,181,000 after buying an additional 875,480 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Alphabet by 2.5% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 11,024,276 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,843,149,000 after buying an additional 264,962 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ GOOG opened at $166.25 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The company 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. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $148.20 and a 52 week high of $208.70. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $184.37 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $178.22.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,340 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total transaction of $270,787.20. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 17,848 shares in the company, valued at $3,606,723.84. This trade represents a 6.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total value of $33,106.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 7,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,293,285.89. The trade was a 2.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 93,048 shares of company stock worth $17,374,274 over the last ninety days. 12.99% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Citizens Jmp cut Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $209.13.

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.