Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Stock Holdings Raised by Elgethun Capital Management

Elgethun Capital Management increased its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 3.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 8,055 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 281 shares during the period. Elgethun Capital Management’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,534,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $5,166,070,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth $1,551,533,000. GQG Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 181,679.1% in the fourth quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 7,225,721 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,376,066,000 after purchasing an additional 7,221,746 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 5,712.8% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,367,831 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $831,810,000 after purchasing an additional 4,292,689 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 117,991,725 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $22,470,344,000 after buying an additional 3,189,592 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Down 3.2 %

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $147.74 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $1.80 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.04. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $177.04 and a 200-day simple moving average of $178.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $143.70 and a 52-week high of $208.70.

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, topping the consensus estimate 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 fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.54%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.94%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on GOOG. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Scotiabank boosted 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. Westpark Capital began coverage on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $210.00 price objective for the company. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $208.65.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,340 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total value of $270,787.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 17,848 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,606,723.84. This represents a 6.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,690 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.51, for a total transaction of $3,281,671.90. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 43,111 shares in the company, valued at $7,997,521.61. This represents a 29.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 119,797 shares of company stock valued at $21,089,470 in the last quarter. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

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.