Prospect Financial Group LLC Makes New $350,000 Investment in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Prospect Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 1,839 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $350,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of GOOG. Modern Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 367.3% in the 4th quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC now owns 76,752 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $14,445,000 after acquiring an additional 60,327 shares in the last quarter. CoreFirst Bank & Trust bought a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $360,000. Barnett & Company Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Barnett & Company Inc. now owns 2,160 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $411,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Grantvest Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth $301,000. Finally, Lynx Investment Advisory lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. Lynx Investment Advisory now owns 3,666 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $698,000 after acquiring an additional 203 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Up 2.2 %

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $169.93 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $2.07 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.11, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $148.20 and a 52-week high of $208.70. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $183.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $178.30.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 EPS 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%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.94%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, insider Ruth Porat sold 17,690 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 1,449,286 shares in the company, valued at $265,914,995.28. The trade was a 1.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total value of $33,106.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,293,285.89. This trade represents a 2.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 93,048 shares of company stock valued at $17,374,274 over the last 90 days. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GOOG has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “negative” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.