Level Four Advisory Services LLC Increases Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Level Four Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 4.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 36,914 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,470 shares during the period. Level Four Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $7,030,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Weiss Asset Management LP acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the third quarter valued at $25,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet in the third quarter worth about $33,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth about $43,000. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $164.08 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $182.36 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $178.26. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $148.20 and a 52-week high of $208.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.00 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 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, analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.94%.

Insider Activity

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 7,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,293,285.89. This represents a 2.50 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 11,764 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.84, for a total transaction of $1,962,705.76. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 49,037 shares in the company, valued at $8,181,333.08. This trade represents a 19.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 104,812 shares of company stock worth $19,336,979 over the last quarter. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GOOG has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Benchmark reissued a “negative” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price objective on Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.