HighPoint Advisor Group LLC Has $28.19 Million Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

HighPoint Advisor Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 1.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 150,167 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,344 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for approximately 1.6% of HighPoint Advisor Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $28,186,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOG. Weiss Asset Management LP acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet in the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOG stock opened at $156.06 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $1.90 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $181.53 and a 200 day simple moving average of $178.69. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $148.20 and a 1 year high of $208.70.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. Research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,293,285.89. The trade was a 2.50 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Ruth Porat sold 17,690 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the insider now owns 1,449,286 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $265,914,995.28. This trade represents a 1.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 87,992 shares of company stock worth $16,097,111. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a “neutral” rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. 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 given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $208.56.

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.