Sapient Capital LLC Purchases 12,728 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Sapient Capital LLC increased its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 8.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 155,640 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,728 shares during the quarter. Sapient Capital LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $29,640,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Weiss Asset Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter valued at $25,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter valued at $33,000. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 87.3% in the third quarter. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. now owns 251 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Compass Financial Services Inc acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth about $65,000. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.67, for a total transaction of $3,975,075.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,061,806 shares in the company, valued at approximately $364,259,266.02. This represents a 1.08 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,340 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total value of $270,787.20. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 17,848 shares in the company, valued at $3,606,723.84. This trade represents a 6.98 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 89,529 shares of company stock worth $16,600,078 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of GOOG stock opened at $187.88 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.95, 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 $193.89 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $176.47. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $131.55 and a 12-month high of $208.70. The firm has a market cap of $2.30 trillion, a P/E ratio of 23.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.00.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. Equities analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.43%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.94%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on GOOG shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Alphabet from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Barclays boosted their target price on Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Phillip Securities raised Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.