Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Stake Lifted by Rafferty Asset Management LLC

Rafferty Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 9.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 475,479 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 42,866 shares during the period. Rafferty Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $90,550,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Sterling Financial Planning Inc. lifted 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 acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC increased its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Harrell Investment Partners LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Harrell Investment Partners LLC now owns 5,659 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,078,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC now owns 7,300 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,395,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 5,073 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $966,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on GOOG. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $171.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, April 25th. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Alphabet from $209.00 to $173.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Benchmark restated a “negative” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Needham & Company LLC lowered shares of Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “cautious” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $203.94.

Alphabet Trading Up 3.7%

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $166.81 on Thursday. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $142.66 and a 52-week high of $208.70. The company has a market capitalization of $2.02 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $160.21 and a 200 day simple moving average of $176.79. 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 issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. The business had revenue of $90.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. Alphabet’s revenue was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.89 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. This is a boost from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is 9.36%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,690 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.51, for a total value of $3,281,671.90. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 43,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,997,521.61. This represents a 29.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.56, for a total transaction of $5,153,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,717,696 shares in the company, valued at approximately $430,917,877.76. This represents a 1.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 179,324 shares of company stock worth $30,153,353. Company 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.