OneAscent Financial Services LLC Acquires 2,952 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

OneAscent Financial Services LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 52.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,597 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,952 shares during the period. OneAscent Financial Services LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,637,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Weiss Asset Management LP purchased a new position in Alphabet during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the third quarter worth $33,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. bought a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,368 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.55, for a total value of $262,040.40. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 20,681 shares in the company, valued at $3,961,445.55. This represents a 6.20 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.80, for a total value of $284,700.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 21,824 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,142,195.20. This trade represents a 6.43 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 88,665 shares of company stock valued at $16,198,310. 12.99% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GOOG has been the topic of several research reports. Scotiabank raised 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. Citizens Jmp downgraded Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Westpark Capital started coverage on Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday. They set a “buy” rating and a $210.00 price objective for the company. Benchmark reiterated a “negative” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $208.65.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $158.88 on Wednesday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $1.94 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. The business has a 50-day moving average of $179.89 and a 200 day moving average of $178.70. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $148.20 and a 12 month high of $208.70.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted 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 return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.