Maltin Wealth Management Inc. Acquires 2,866 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Maltin Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 158.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,678 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,866 shares during the quarter. Maltin Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $731,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of GOOG. LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth about $43,000. Finally, Sellwood Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth about $43,000. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 673 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 15,303 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,377,014.99. This represents a 4.21% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.56, for a total value of $5,153,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,717,696 shares in the company, valued at approximately $430,917,877.76. The trade was a 1.18% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 195,770 shares of company stock worth $32,036,638. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Susquehanna reissued a “positive” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. UBS Group dropped their price target on Alphabet from $209.00 to $173.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Rosenblatt Securities upgraded Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Needham & Company LLC lowered Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “cautious” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price target on Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $204.88.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ GOOG opened at $169.39 on Thursday. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $142.66 and a fifty-two week high of $208.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.06 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $161.29 and its two-hundred day moving average is $176.14.

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

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th will be issued a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. This is an increase from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 9.36%.

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.