Sandy Spring Bank Acquires 632 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Sandy Spring Bank raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 0.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 207,514 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 632 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises approximately 1.6% of Sandy Spring Bank’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. Sandy Spring Bank’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $39,519,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Sterling Financial Planning Inc. grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Financial Planning Inc. now owns 1,941 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $370,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 14,423 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,747,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Harrell Investment Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Harrell Investment Partners LLC now owns 5,659 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,078,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC now owns 7,300 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,395,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 5,073 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $966,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total transaction of $33,106.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 7,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,293,285.89. This trade represents a 2.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 29,066 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.89, for a total transaction of $5,374,012.74. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 272,466 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $50,376,238.74. This represents a 9.64 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 93,048 shares of company stock valued at $17,374,274. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $166.28 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $2.03 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $185.52 and a 200-day moving average price of $178.02. 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 $147.67 and a 12 month high of $208.70.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders 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 0.48%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is 9.94%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on GOOG. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. 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 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.