Moors & Cabot Inc. Buys 2,065 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Moors & Cabot Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 3.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 66,889 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,065 shares during the period. Moors & Cabot Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $12,738,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Prosperity Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 9.4% in the 4th quarter. Prosperity Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,886 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $359,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. Prosperity Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 8.9% in the 4th quarter. Prosperity Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,884 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $930,000 after purchasing an additional 401 shares during the last quarter. Warburton Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at $529,000. Natural Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at $2,031,000. Finally, AGF Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 125.5% during the 4th quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 184,462 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $35,129,000 after acquiring an additional 102,672 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of GOOG stock opened at $165.98 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.02 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.62, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $138.21 and a 1-year high of $208.70. The business has a 50-day moving average of $188.87 and a 200 day moving average of $178.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.94%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,374 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.47, for a total transaction of $238,347.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 15,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,606,213.28. This trade represents a 8.38 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total value of $3,239,868.40. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 43,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,471,620.22. This trade represents a 27.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 97,182 shares of company stock valued at $18,192,354. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GOOG has been the topic of several recent research reports. 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. Citizens Jmp downgraded Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Benchmark reaffirmed a “negative” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $209.13.

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.