Verde Capital Management Boosts Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Verde Capital Management increased its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 9.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 18,303 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,588 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for about 1.0% of Verde Capital Management’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. Verde Capital Management’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $3,486,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. M&G PLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter valued at about $2,240,000. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Alphabet by 14.4% in the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 116,776 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $19,642,000 after buying an additional 14,738 shares during the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 1.4% in the third quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 301,980 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $50,488,000 after buying an additional 4,292 shares during the last quarter. Stevens Capital Management LP increased its holdings in Alphabet by 172.9% in the 3rd quarter. Stevens Capital Management LP now owns 91,237 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $15,254,000 after buying an additional 57,810 shares during the period. Finally, Verdence Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 10.2% during the 3rd quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 63,545 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $10,624,000 after acquiring an additional 5,892 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ GOOG opened at $201.90 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $2.47 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.99. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $187.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is $175.31. The company has a quick ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $131.55 and a 52-week high of $203.84.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. The business had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $86.39 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.55 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 10.61%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOG has been the topic of a number of research reports. Pivotal Research increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Scotiabank increased their price target on Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $212.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price target on Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $205.13.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,834 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total value of $550,702.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 17,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,468,029.04. This trade represents a 13.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 441 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.06, for a total value of $75,437.46. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,490 shares in the company, valued at $2,820,779.40. This trade represents a 2.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 133,387 shares of company stock valued at $24,368,654. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

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.