GWN Securities Inc. Takes $4.13 Million Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

GWN Securities Inc. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 20,487 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $4,127,000. Alphabet accounts for approximately 1.1% of GWN Securities Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest holding.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Swedbank AB boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.6% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 8,338,900 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,394,181,000 after acquiring an additional 51,226 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 11,024,276 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,843,149,000 after purchasing an additional 264,962 shares during the last quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 48.4% in the 3rd quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC now owns 9,194 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,537,000 after purchasing an additional 3,000 shares during the period. Evolution Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Evolution Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 57,865 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $9,673,000 after purchasing an additional 760 shares during the period. Finally, RIA Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at $323,000. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on GOOG. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price target on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. One research 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $209.13.

Alphabet Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ GOOG opened at $167.62 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $2.04 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.82, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $141.13 and a 12 month high of $208.70. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $187.41 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $178.00.

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

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 29,066 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.89, for a total value of $5,374,012.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 272,466 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,376,238.74. This trade represents a 9.64 % 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 John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total value of $33,106.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 7,813 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 have sold a total of 95,882 shares of company stock valued at $17,934,130 in the last 90 days. 12.99% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.