Main Street Research LLC Boosts Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Main Street Research LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 8.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 20,368 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,516 shares during the period. Main Street Research LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $3,879,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at $1,551,533,000. FMR LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 5.2% during the third 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 during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 5,712.8% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,367,831 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $831,810,000 after purchasing an additional 4,292,689 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 10.3% in 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 purchasing an additional 3,113,395 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund grew its position in Alphabet by 182.1% during the 3rd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 2,526,055 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $422,331,000 after purchasing an additional 1,630,701 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on GOOG shares. Benchmark restated a “negative” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a 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. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $209.13.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 43,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,471,620.22. This represents a 27.66 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,340 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total transaction of $270,787.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 17,848 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,606,723.84. This trade represents a 6.98 % decrease in their position. 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. 12.99% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $175.75 on Monday. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $134.80 and a fifty-two week high of $208.70. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $189.85 and its 200 day moving average price is $178.07. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The stock has a market cap of $2.14 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings data 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%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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

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.