Sfm LLC Takes $1.68 Million Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Sfm LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 10,769 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,682,000. Alphabet makes up 1.2% of Sfm LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 21st largest holding.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of GOOG. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 111.8% during the 1st quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 161 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the period. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. acquired a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at $43,000. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $171.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Susquehanna restated a “positive” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Scotiabank dropped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $232.00 to $200.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 21st. Tigress Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, KeyCorp dropped their price objective on Alphabet from $202.00 to $185.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $204.88.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 11,764 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.84, for a total value of $1,962,705.76. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 49,037 shares in the company, valued at $8,181,333.08. The trade was a 19.35% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 673 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.33, for a total value of $104,537.09. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 15,303 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,377,014.99. This trade represents a 4.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 195,570 shares of company stock worth $32,003,532 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Down 0.6%

Alphabet stock opened at $175.88 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $164.57 and a 200-day simple moving average of $176.34. The company has a market capitalization of $2.13 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.85, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $142.66 and a fifty-two week high of $208.70.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. The company had revenue of $90.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.89 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th will be given a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. This is a boost from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 9.36%.

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.