Financial Advocates Investment Management Increases Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Financial Advocates Investment Management increased its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 4.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 32,033 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,405 shares during the quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $6,100,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Weiss Asset Management LP purchased a new position in Alphabet in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in Alphabet during the third quarter valued at $33,000. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. grew its holdings in Alphabet by 87.3% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. now owns 251 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the period. Finally, Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Alphabet by 32.3% in the third quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 344 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $57,000 after buying an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 37,134 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 10th. The shares were 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 represents a 11.61 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 23,515 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,007,191.15. The trade was a 5.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 89,529 shares of company stock valued at $16,600,078. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Phillip Securities upgraded Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Pivotal Research increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Citizens Jmp cut shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, 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. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $209.13.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOG stock opened at $187.14 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $193.12 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $176.13. The stock has a market cap of $2.29 trillion, a PE ratio of 23.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.00. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $131.55 and a one year high of $208.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.95.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its 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%. On average, analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.43%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.94%.

Alphabet 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.