Tortoise Investment Management LLC Increases Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Tortoise Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 8.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,319 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 334 shares during the quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $823,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Sterling Financial Planning Inc. raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Financial Planning Inc. now owns 1,941 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $370,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 14,423 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,747,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Harrell Investment Partners LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Harrell Investment Partners LLC now owns 5,659 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,078,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC now owns 7,300 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,395,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its position in Alphabet by 1.1% during 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 last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were 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 $4,529,987.28. The trade was a 6.04 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,834 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.55, for a total transaction of $559,856.70. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 20,681 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,085,531.55. This trade represents a 12.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 97,182 shares of company stock valued at $18,192,354 in the last 90 days. 12.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Alphabet Price Performance

Alphabet stock opened at $167.81 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $189.36 and its 200 day moving average price is $178.09. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $137.07 and a 1 year high of $208.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.05 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.48%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.94%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Scotiabank raised 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. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Benchmark reaffirmed a “negative” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $209.13.

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.