Graney & King LLC Makes New $166,000 Investment in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Graney & King LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 871 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $166,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of GOOG. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 5.2% in the 3rd 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 boosted its position in Alphabet by 0.3% during 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 buying an additional 259,213 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 10.3% during 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 buying an additional 3,113,395 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 30,824,307 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $5,870,181,000 after buying an additional 875,480 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.5% in the 3rd 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 acquiring an additional 264,962 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Up 1.7 %

NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $172.79 on Wednesday. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $148.20 and a 52 week high of $208.70. The stock has a market cap of $2.11 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.46, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $183.56 and its 200-day moving average price is $178.44. 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 posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.46%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.94%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Citizens Jmp cut Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Benchmark restated a “negative” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their target price on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $209.13.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total transaction of $3,239,868.40. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 43,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,471,620.22. This represents a 27.66 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total value of $33,106.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 7,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,293,285.89. The trade was a 2.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 93,048 shares of company stock valued at $17,374,274 over the last three months. 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.