Metis Global Partners LLC Purchases 15,420 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Metis Global Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 5.1% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 317,400 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 15,420 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises 1.8% of Metis Global Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Metis Global Partners LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $60,446,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in GOOG. Weiss Asset Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 87.3% during the 3rd 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, Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GOOG has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Benchmark reiterated a “negative” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Scotiabank raised 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. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $209.13.

Alphabet Stock Down 2.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $168.66 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $191.63 and a 200 day moving average price of $177.88. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The company has a market capitalization of $2.06 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.95, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.00. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $131.55 and a 12-month high of $208.70.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. Sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 9.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,340 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total transaction of $270,787.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 17,848 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,606,723.84. This trade represents a 6.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Ruth Porat sold 17,690 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.48, for a total value of $3,245,761.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,449,286 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $265,914,995.28. This represents a 1.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 134,316 shares of company stock valued at $25,062,887. 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.