Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Stock Position Increased by Wedmont Private Capital

Wedmont Private Capital boosted its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 6.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 88,841 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 5,079 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for approximately 0.9% of Wedmont Private Capital’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest position. Wedmont Private Capital’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $17,161,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Weiss Asset Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 9,200.0% in the second quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 186 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter valued at $33,000. HWG Holdings LP bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the second quarter valued at $40,000. Finally, Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 87.3% during the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. now owns 251 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,368 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.55, for a total value of $262,040.40. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 20,681 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,961,445.55. This trade represents a 6.20 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 441 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.06, for a total transaction of $75,437.46. Following the sale, the director now owns 16,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,820,779.40. This trade represents a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 154,387 shares of company stock worth $27,748,931. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of GOOG traded down $1.56 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $191.61. 7,881,423 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 15,647,354. The company has a market cap of $2.35 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 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 Inc. has a 12-month low of $131.55 and a 12-month high of $202.88. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $184.12 and a 200-day simple moving average of $174.45.

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

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th were paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is presently 10.61%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GOOG has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Alphabet from $185.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Pivotal Research boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $187.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $200.56.

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.