Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC Boosts Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 2.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 540,093 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,375 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up 1.0% of Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 16th largest position. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $102,855,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Saturna Capital Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth $273,000. Summit X LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Summit X LLC now owns 11,572 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,204,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. grew its position in Alphabet by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 66,889 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $12,738,000 after purchasing an additional 2,065 shares during the period. Prosperity Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 9.4% during the 4th quarter. Prosperity Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,886 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $359,000 after buying an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Prosperity Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 8.9% during the 4th quarter. Prosperity Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,884 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $930,000 after buying an additional 401 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Price Performance

NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $165.98 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $188.87 and a two-hundred day moving average of $178.08. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $138.21 and a 12 month high of $208.70. The firm has a market cap of $2.02 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. On average, analysts expect 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 paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.94%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on GOOG. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” 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 report on Wednesday, February 5th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Citizens Jmp downgraded shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, January 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $209.13.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,374 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.47, for a total transaction of $238,347.78. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 15,024 shares in the company, valued at $2,606,213.28. The trade was a 8.38 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.22, for a total value of $291,330.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 23,324 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,529,987.28. This represents a 6.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 97,182 shares of company stock valued at $18,192,354. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

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.