Investment Partners LTD. Has $1.35 Million Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Investment Partners LTD. trimmed its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 4.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,076 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 294 shares during the quarter. Investment Partners LTD.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,348,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. LGT Group Foundation raised its position in Alphabet by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. LGT Group Foundation now owns 380,408 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $72,445,000 after purchasing an additional 17,809 shares in the last quarter. DJE Kapital AG bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $209,347,000. Plato Investment Management Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 127,636 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $24,395,000 after buying an additional 2,046 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,987,000. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its stake in Alphabet by 21.3% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 119,583 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $22,773,000 after buying an additional 20,993 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Up 2.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $172.61 on Wednesday. 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 stock has a market cap of $2.10 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a 50 day moving average of $191.13 and a 200-day moving average of $177.93. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $131.55 and a one year high of $208.70.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted 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 return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,374 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.47, for a total transaction of $238,347.78. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 15,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,606,213.28. This trade represents a 8.38 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.22, for a total value of $291,330.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 23,324 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,529,987.28. This represents a 6.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 134,316 shares of company stock worth $25,062,887. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. 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. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $209.13.

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.