Shira Ridge Wealth Management Increases Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Shira Ridge Wealth Management raised its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 1.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 15,656 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 166 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up 1.5% of Shira Ridge Wealth Management’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest holding. Shira Ridge Wealth Management’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $2,982,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in GOOG. M&G PLC purchased a new position in Alphabet in the third quarter worth $2,240,000. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 14.4% during the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 116,776 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $19,642,000 after purchasing an additional 14,738 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 301,980 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $50,488,000 after purchasing an additional 4,292 shares during the period. Stevens Capital Management LP increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 172.9% in the 3rd quarter. Stevens Capital Management LP now owns 91,237 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $15,254,000 after purchasing an additional 57,810 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Verdence Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 10.2% in the third quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 63,545 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $10,624,000 after purchasing an additional 5,892 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 37,134 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 441 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.06, for a total value of $75,437.46. Following the transaction, the director now owns 16,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,820,779.40. The trade was a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 130,553 shares of company stock valued at $23,817,951 in the last quarter. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on GOOG shares. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Alphabet from $187.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Pivotal Research boosted their target price on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Citizens Jmp cut Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Phillip Securities raised Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $200.56.

Alphabet Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ GOOG opened at $191.05 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.34 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.34, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.99. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $184.95 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $174.55. The company has a quick ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $131.55 and a 52-week high of $202.88.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. The business had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $86.39 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. The business’s revenue was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.55 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th were issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.61%.

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.