Safeguard Financial LLC Increases Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Safeguard Financial LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGFree Report) by 18.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,929 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 777 shares during the period. Safeguard Financial LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $939,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in GOOG. MSA Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. MSA Advisors LLC now owns 116,565 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $21,380,000 after buying an additional 900 shares during the last quarter. WealthPLAN Partners LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 14.4% during the 2nd quarter. WealthPLAN Partners LLC now owns 61,367 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $11,256,000 after buying an additional 7,722 shares during the last quarter. Luts & Greenleigh Group Inc. bought a new stake in Alphabet during the 2nd quarter valued at $840,000. Lmcg Investments LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Lmcg Investments LLC now owns 135,514 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $24,856,000 after buying an additional 806 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Excalibur Management Corp raised its holdings in Alphabet by 17.0% during the 2nd quarter. Excalibur Management Corp now owns 2,827 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $519,000 after buying an additional 411 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOG stock opened at $196.98 on Thursday. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $131.55 and a one year high of $202.88. The company’s 50-day moving average is $184.95 and its 200 day moving average is $174.55. The company has a market capitalization of $2.41 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a current ratio of 1.95.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGGet Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. The company had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $86.39 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.55 EPS. Alphabet’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.61%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GOOG has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Phillip Securities upgraded shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $200.56.

Read Our Latest Stock Report on Alphabet

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $4,007,191.15. This trade represents a 5.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 441 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.06, for a total transaction of $75,437.46. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 16,490 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,820,779.40. The trade was a 2.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 133,387 shares of company stock valued at $24,368,654. 12.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Alphabet Company Profile

(Free Report)

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.

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Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG)

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