Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Bought by Horizon Investments LLC

Horizon Investments LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 20.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 12,172 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,101 shares during the quarter. Horizon Investments LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,902,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. JDM Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 10.6% in the 4th quarter. JDM Financial Group LLC now owns 593 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $113,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Objectivity Squared LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Objectivity Squared LLC now owns 16,342 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,605,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Tranquility Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Tranquility Partners LLC now owns 14,488 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,263,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC now owns 10,648 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,664,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 28.5% in the 4th quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 293 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Performance

GOOG stock opened at $204.91 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The company has a market capitalization of $2.48 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.02. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $142.66 and a 12 month high of $208.70. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $185.21 and a two-hundred day moving average of $174.87.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $96.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $93.67 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 31.12% and a return on equity of 34.31%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.89 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 8th will be given a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 8th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 8.95%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on GOOG. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $186.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Citigroup restated a “sell” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. BNP Paribas lowered shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Susquehanna restated a “positive” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $235.00 price target (up previously from $220.00) on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $215.19.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $196.23, for a total value of $6,377,475.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,494,892 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $489,572,657.16. The trade was a 1.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.79, for a total transaction of $122,274.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 6,316 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,287,137.64. This represents a 8.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 274,819 shares of company stock valued at $49,796,547. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.