Madison Investment Advisors LLC Invests $257.77 Million in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Madison Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 1,353,569 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $257,774,000. Alphabet accounts for about 2.9% of Madison Investment Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Weiss Asset Management LP acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Finally, FPC Investment Advisory Inc. increased its holdings in Alphabet by 287.9% in the 4th quarter. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 225 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

Alphabet stock opened at $164.73 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $141.13 and a 12-month high of $208.70. The stock has a market cap of $2.01 trillion, a P/E 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 company has a fifty day simple moving average of $187.92 and a 200-day simple moving average of $177.92.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. Equities analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.94%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Benchmark restated a “negative” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. One research 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $209.13.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,834 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 20,681 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,085,531.55. The trade was a 12.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total transaction of $3,239,868.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 43,981 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,471,620.22. This represents a 27.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 95,882 shares of company stock valued at $17,934,130 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

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.