Sunpointe LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Sunpointe LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 8.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 8,445 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 681 shares during the period. Sunpointe LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,608,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Weiss Asset Management LP acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. boosted its stake in Alphabet by 87.3% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Alphabet by 33.0% in the 4th quarter. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 266 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Down 2.7 %

Shares of GOOG opened at $181.58 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.21 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.00. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $131.55 and a 1 year 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. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $194.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $177.45.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued 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 net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. Analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The shares were 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 approximately $8,471,620.22. This represents a 27.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.41, for a total transaction of $232,950.47. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 23,515 shares in the company, valued at $4,007,191.15. The trade was a 5.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 134,299 shares of company stock valued at $25,055,751. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on GOOG shares. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $212.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $182.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective 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. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $187.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $209.13.

Alphabet Company Profile

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.