Carlson Capital Management Boosts Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Carlson Capital Management raised its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 6.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,012 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 301 shares during the period. Carlson Capital Management’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $954,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Clarity Wealth Development LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at about $486,000. PDS Planning Inc increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 10.9% during the 4th quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 34,948 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $6,656,000 after purchasing an additional 3,447 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. now owns 15,977 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,043,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Mystic Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Mystic Asset Management Inc. now owns 19,979 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,805,000 after purchasing an additional 536 shares during the last quarter. Finally, RD Lewis Holdings Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,287,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, insider Ruth Porat sold 17,690 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.48, for a total transaction of $3,245,761.20. Following the sale, the insider now owns 1,449,286 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $265,914,995.28. The trade was a 1.21 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total transaction of $3,239,868.40. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 43,981 shares in the company, valued at $8,471,620.22. The trade was a 27.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 93,048 shares of company stock worth $17,374,274. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $166.57 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $186.78 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $178.12. 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 one year low of $147.01 and a one year high of $208.70. The company has a market cap of $2.03 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.69, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. Analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is presently 9.94%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GOOG has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Benchmark restated a “negative” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Citizens Jmp downgraded shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $209.13.

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.