Zullo Investment Group Inc. Has $3.71 Million Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Zullo Investment Group Inc. raised its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 0.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 19,497 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 65 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for about 1.5% of Zullo Investment Group Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest position. Zullo Investment Group Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $3,713,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Able Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 11.7% in the fourth quarter. Able Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,738 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $521,000 after buying an additional 287 shares during the last quarter. Advyzon Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,073,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its holdings in Alphabet by 10.4% in the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 2,902,642 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $552,779,000 after buying an additional 274,466 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Alliance increased its holdings in Alphabet by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Alliance now owns 19,253 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,666,000 after buying an additional 661 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sunpointe LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 8.8% in the fourth quarter. Sunpointe LLC now owns 8,445 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,608,000 after buying an additional 681 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Down 2.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ GOOG opened at $181.58 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $2.21 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.56, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.00. The business has a fifty day moving average of $194.02 and a two-hundred day moving average of $177.45. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $131.55 and a 52-week high of $208.70. 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 released 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, equities research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.44%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is 9.94%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Alphabet from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Alphabet from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. UBS Group increased their price target on Alphabet from $187.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays increased their price target on Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Phillip Securities upgraded Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $209.13.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, insider Ruth Porat sold 17,690 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.48, for a total value of $3,245,761.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,449,286 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $265,914,995.28. The trade was a 1.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 37,134 shares of Alphabet 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. The trade was a 11.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 134,299 shares of company stock valued at $25,055,751 over the last ninety days. 12.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.