Horizon Investment Services LLC Increases Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Horizon Investment Services LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 1.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,298 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 153 shares during the period. Horizon Investment Services LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,771,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 6.8% during the fourth quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC now owns 16,248 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,094,000 after acquiring an additional 1,041 shares during the period. North Forty Two & Co. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth about $281,000. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 14.4% during the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 116,776 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $19,642,000 after purchasing an additional 14,738 shares during the last quarter. Requisite Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $927,000. Finally, Stevens Capital Management LP raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 172.9% during the third quarter. Stevens Capital Management LP now owns 91,237 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $15,254,000 after acquiring an additional 57,810 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GOOG has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Benchmark reissued a “negative” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $208.56.

Alphabet Trading Down 4.9 %

NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $156.06 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $181.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $178.31. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $148.20 and a 12-month high of $208.70. The firm has a market cap of $1.90 trillion, a PE ratio of 19.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (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%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.94%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 29,066 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.89, for a total value of $5,374,012.74. Following the transaction, the director now owns 272,466 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,376,238.74. This represents a 9.64 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director now owns 7,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,293,285.89. The trade was a 2.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 104,812 shares of company stock worth $19,336,979. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.