AFG Fiduciary Services Limited Partnership Acquires New Shares in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

AFG Fiduciary Services Limited Partnership bought a new position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 1,117 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $220,000.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Alphabet by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 5,073 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $966,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the period. Sunburst Financial Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.1% during the third quarter. Sunburst Financial Group LLC now owns 2,959 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $495,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the period. Johnson Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.6% in the third quarter. Johnson Financial Group LLC now owns 2,360 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $395,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 8,323 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,585,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. Finally, Phillips Financial Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.6% during the third quarter. Phillips Financial Management LLC now owns 3,852 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $644,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 37,134 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.02, for a total transaction of $6,870,532.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 282,832 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $52,329,576.64. This trade represents a 11.61 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.42, for a total value of $234,331.14. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 26,349 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,516,745.58. The trade was a 4.93 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 133,387 shares of company stock worth $24,368,654. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GOOG has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group upped their price objective on Alphabet from $187.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Alphabet from $182.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Citizens Jmp downgraded shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $205.13.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $201.90 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $187.39 and its 200-day moving average price is $175.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.47 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.99. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $131.55 and a 1 year high of $203.84.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $86.39 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. Alphabet’s revenue was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.55 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.40%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 10.61%.

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.