Postrock Partners LLC Makes New $5.28 Million Investment in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Postrock Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 27,740 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $5,283,000. Alphabet makes up 2.6% of Postrock Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest holding.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in GOOG. Swedbank AB lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 8,338,900 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,394,181,000 after acquiring an additional 51,226 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Alphabet by 2.5% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 11,024,276 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,843,149,000 after purchasing an additional 264,962 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc lifted its stake in Alphabet by 0.6% during the third quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc now owns 306,458 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $51,237,000 after purchasing an additional 1,718 shares during the last quarter. Parthenon LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Parthenon LLC now owns 139,346 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $23,297,000 after purchasing an additional 551 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kovack Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. now owns 38,858 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $6,497,000 after purchasing an additional 1,118 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total value of $3,239,868.40. Following the sale, the insider now owns 43,981 shares in the company, valued at $8,471,620.22. This represents a 27.66 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,834 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.55, for a total value of $559,856.70. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 20,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,085,531.55. This trade represents a 12.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 95,882 shares of company stock worth $17,934,130 in the last three months. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

GOOG stock opened at $164.73 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $2.01 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.46, 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. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $187.92 and a 200-day moving average price of $177.92. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $141.13 and a 1-year high of $208.70.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.94%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GOOG has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.