Garland Capital Management Inc. Makes New Investment in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Garland Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor purchased 3,500 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $667,000. Alphabet comprises approximately 0.5% of Garland Capital Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest holding.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Weiss Asset Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the third quarter worth about $25,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the third quarter worth about $33,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $43,000. Finally, FPC Investment Advisory Inc. boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 287.9% during the fourth quarter. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 225 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 167 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total transaction of $33,106.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 7,813 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,293,285.89. This trade represents a 2.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 29,066 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.89, for a total value of $5,374,012.74. Following the transaction, the director now owns 272,466 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,376,238.74. This trade represents a 9.64 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 93,048 shares of company stock worth $17,374,274. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

GOOG opened at $166.25 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $148.20 and a 12-month high of $208.70. The stock has a market cap of $2.03 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.65, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. The business has a 50 day moving average of $184.37 and a 200-day moving average of $177.94. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

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

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.48%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.94%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on GOOG. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Citizens Jmp cut Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $209.13.

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.