Jackson Thornton Wealth Management LLC Boosts Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Jackson Thornton Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 115.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,209 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,253 shares during the quarter. Jackson Thornton Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $802,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of GOOG. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.5% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 11,024,276 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,843,149,000 after purchasing an additional 264,962 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Alphabet by 7.2% during the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 13,526 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,261,000 after acquiring an additional 909 shares during the last quarter. Algert Global LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the third quarter valued at $6,224,000. Towercrest Capital Management increased its position in Alphabet by 3.7% during the third quarter. Towercrest Capital Management now owns 4,171 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $697,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Truepoint Inc. increased its position in Alphabet by 6.2% during the third quarter. Truepoint Inc. now owns 3,017 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $504,000 after acquiring an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,340 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total value of $270,787.20. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 17,848 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,606,723.84. The trade was a 6.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 93,048 shares of company stock valued at $17,374,274. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ GOOG opened at $166.25 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $2.03 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.65, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 price of $184.37 and a 200-day moving average price of $178.22. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $148.20 and a twelve month high of $208.70.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors 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 yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is presently 9.94%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GOOG has been the subject of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Benchmark reiterated a “negative” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday. One 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $209.13.

Alphabet Company 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.