Miller Financial Services LLC Takes Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Miller Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 7,865 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,498,000. Alphabet accounts for 1.3% of Miller Financial Services LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest holding.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Weiss Asset Management LP acquired a new position in Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. raised its stake in Alphabet by 87.3% during the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. now owns 251 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 117 shares during the period. Finally, Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new position in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $43,000. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, 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 transaction of $291,330.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 23,324 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,529,987.28. The trade was a 6.04 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,834 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.55, for a total transaction of $559,856.70. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 20,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,085,531.55. This represents a 12.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 97,182 shares of company stock valued at $18,192,354. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

GOOG stock opened at $167.81 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $2.05 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. 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 business has a 50 day moving average of $189.36 and a 200-day moving average of $178.09. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $137.07 and a 12-month high of $208.70.

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

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.94%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “negative” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Citizens Jmp downgraded Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price objective on Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $209.13.

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.