Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Bought by Secure Asset Management LLC

Secure Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 4.6% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 13,013 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 570 shares during the quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $2,478,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Verde Capital Management raised its position in Alphabet by 9.5% in the fourth quarter. Verde Capital Management now owns 18,303 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,486,000 after acquiring an additional 1,588 shares in the last quarter. Seros Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth $282,000. Red Door Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. Red Door Wealth Management LLC now owns 96,385 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $18,355,000 after purchasing an additional 6,220 shares in the last quarter. Madrona Financial Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Madrona Financial Services LLC now owns 7,631 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,453,000 after purchasing an additional 176 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Market Street Wealth Management Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at about $212,000. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of GOOG opened at $201.90 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $131.55 and a fifty-two week high of $203.84. The company’s fifty day moving average is $187.95 and its two-hundred day moving average is $175.31. The firm has a market cap of $2.47 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a quick ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $86.39 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.55 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total value of $3,239,868.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 43,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,471,620.22. This represents 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 at this hyperlink. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.78, for a total value of $1,898,190.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 330,466 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $59,741,643.48. This trade represents a 3.08 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 133,387 shares of company stock valued at $24,368,654 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on GOOG shares. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $185.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Alphabet from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Citizens Jmp downgraded Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on Alphabet from $187.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $205.13.

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.