Strategic Financial Concepts LLC Purchases 1,157,926 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Strategic Financial Concepts LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 18,770.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,164,095 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,157,926 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $221,690,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in GOOG. FMR LLC grew its position in 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 purchasing an additional 5,655,022 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 10.3% in the 3rd 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 period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in Alphabet by 65.9% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 6,294,332 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,052,349,000 after purchasing an additional 2,500,621 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund grew its position in Alphabet by 182.1% in the 3rd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 2,526,055 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $422,331,000 after purchasing an additional 1,630,701 shares during the period. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 9.1% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 15,424,324 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,578,793,000 after purchasing an additional 1,291,274 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,340 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total value of $270,787.20. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 17,848 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,606,723.84. This trade represents a 6.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.22, for a total transaction of $291,330.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 23,324 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,529,987.28. The trade was a 6.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 89,529 shares of company stock valued at $16,600,078. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on GOOG. Pivotal Research lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Citizens Jmp cut shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $182.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $209.13.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.6 %

GOOG stock opened at $188.20 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $2.30 trillion, a PE ratio of 23.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a current ratio of 1.84. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $193.12 and its 200 day moving average is $176.14. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $131.55 and a one year high of $208.70.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. On average, research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.94%.

Alphabet 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.