Smith Anglin Financial LLC Buys 543 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Smith Anglin Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 11.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,472 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 543 shares during the quarter. Smith Anglin Financial LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,042,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Weiss Asset Management LP bought a new position in Alphabet during the third quarter valued at $25,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 9,200.0% during the 2nd quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 186 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares during the period. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in Alphabet during the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. HWG Holdings LP purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the 2nd quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. lifted its stake in Alphabet by 87.3% in the third quarter. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. now owns 251 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 37,134 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.02, for a total value of $6,870,532.68. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 282,832 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $52,329,576.64. This trade represents a 11.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.36, for a total transaction of $3,990,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,084,306 shares in the company, valued at approximately $369,672,512.16. This trade represents a 1.07 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 133,387 shares of company stock valued at $24,368,654 in the last quarter. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of GOOG stock opened at $194.48 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $185.32 and its 200 day moving average is $174.70. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $131.55 and a 1-year high of $202.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.95. The company has a market cap of $2.38 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.79, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 0.99.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. The firm had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $86.39 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.55 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.41%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 10.61%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on GOOG shares. Pivotal Research increased their price target on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays lifted their target price on Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Citizens Jmp cut shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $200.56.

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.