MONECO Advisors LLC Increases Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

MONECO Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 22.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 17,365 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,192 shares during the period. MONECO Advisors LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $3,307,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. FMR LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 5.2% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 114,802,133 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $19,193,768,000 after purchasing an additional 5,655,022 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 0.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 103,557,486 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $17,247,208,000 after purchasing an additional 259,213 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 10.3% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 33,334,082 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $5,573,125,000 after purchasing an additional 3,113,395 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 9.1% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 15,424,324 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,578,793,000 after purchasing an additional 1,291,274 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Alphabet by 2.5% in 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. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $174.70 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $2.13 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.00. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $192.98 and its 200 day simple moving average is $177.64. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $131.55 and a twelve month high of $208.70. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.94%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Phillip Securities raised shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Citizens Jmp cut shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $212.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $209.13.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, insider Ruth Porat sold 17,690 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.48, for a total value of $3,245,761.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 1,449,286 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $265,914,995.28. The trade was a 1.21 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.41, for a total value of $232,950.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 23,515 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,007,191.15. This represents a 5.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 134,299 shares of company stock valued at $25,055,751. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.