Verum Partners LLC Buys 245 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Verum Partners LLC increased its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 4.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,819 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 245 shares during the period. Verum Partners LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $886,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Quattro Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 6,992.2% during the first quarter. Quattro Financial Advisors LLC now owns 10,000 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,523,000 after purchasing an additional 9,859 shares during the period. Buffington Mohr McNeal boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 57.3% during the first quarter. Buffington Mohr McNeal now owns 38,245 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $5,823,000 after purchasing an additional 13,938 shares during the period. Dash Acquisitions Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 4.4% during the first quarter. Dash Acquisitions Inc. now owns 138,607 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $21,745,000 after purchasing an additional 5,843 shares during the period. Applied Capital LLC FL boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 6.7% during the first quarter. Applied Capital LLC FL now owns 25,492 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,881,000 after purchasing an additional 1,590 shares during the period. Finally, Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.8% during the first quarter. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC now owns 73,308 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $11,162,000 after acquiring an additional 567 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of GOOG opened at $186.61 on Wednesday. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $115.83 and a fifty-two week high of $187.50. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $174.93 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $156.20. The stock has a market cap of $2.31 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 2.15 and a current ratio of 2.15.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.38. Alphabet had a return on equity of 29.52% and a net margin of 25.90%. The company had revenue of $80.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $78.75 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.17 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a — dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Investors of record on Monday, June 10th were paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 10th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 12.27%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.67, for a total value of $113,668.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 29,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,880,764.28. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $157.41, for a total value of $3,541,725.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,303,011 shares in the company, valued at approximately $362,516,961.51. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.67, for a total transaction of $113,668.94. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 29,284 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,880,764.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 123,788 shares of company stock valued at $21,143,403. 12.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on GOOG shares. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $154.00 to $174.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $165.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $172.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities downgraded Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $181.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Friday, June 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $167.86.

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.