O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC Acquires 85,870 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 19.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 532,002 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 85,870 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for about 0.9% of O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 13th largest position. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $101,314,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 6.8% during the fourth quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC now owns 16,248 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,094,000 after buying an additional 1,041 shares during the last quarter. North Forty Two & Co. bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $281,000. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 14,738 shares in the last quarter. Requisite Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $927,000. Finally, Stevens Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 172.9% during the 3rd quarter. Stevens Capital Management LP now owns 91,237 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $15,254,000 after buying an additional 57,810 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total transaction of $3,239,868.40. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 43,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,471,620.22. The trade was a 27.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Ruth Porat sold 17,690 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.48, for a total value of $3,245,761.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,449,286 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $265,914,995.28. The trade was a 1.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 104,812 shares of company stock valued at $19,336,979. 12.99% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on GOOG shares. Citizens Jmp lowered Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $208.56.

Alphabet Stock Down 4.9 %

GOOG stock opened at $156.06 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $1.90 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $148.20 and a twelve month high of $208.70. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $181.53 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $178.51. 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 (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 anticipate 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 was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.51%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.94%.

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.