GKV Capital Management Co. Inc. Invests $636,000 in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

GKV Capital Management Co. Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 3,338 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $636,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. First Commonwealth Financial Corp PA raised its stake in Alphabet by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. First Commonwealth Financial Corp PA now owns 8,454 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,610,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. Farringdon Capital Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth $7,034,000. Demars Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at $89,109,000. Coleford Investment Management Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth $400,000. Finally, Greenwood Gearhart Inc. grew its position in Alphabet by 9.5% in the fourth quarter. Greenwood Gearhart Inc. now owns 173,769 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $33,093,000 after acquiring an additional 15,028 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOG opened at $155.50 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $168.53 and its 200-day moving average price is $177.67. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $142.66 and a 52-week high of $208.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.90 trillion, a PE ratio of 19.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.51%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 9.94%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,340 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total value of $270,787.20. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 17,848 shares in the company, valued at $3,606,723.84. This represents a 6.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,717,696 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $430,917,877.76. The trade was a 1.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 115,663 shares of company stock worth $20,286,447. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on GOOG shares. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. KeyCorp decreased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $202.00 to $185.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Citizens Jmp cut shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $210.88.

Alphabet 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.