Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Position Boosted by V Square Quantitative Management LLC

V Square Quantitative Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 10.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 80,246 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,577 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for 2.2% of V Square Quantitative Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position. V Square Quantitative Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $15,282,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Arlington Trust Co LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 14,423 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,747,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the period. Harrell Investment Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Harrell Investment Partners LLC now owns 5,659 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,078,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 5,073 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $966,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Tempus Wealth Planning LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Tempus Wealth Planning LLC now owns 3,337 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $636,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Investment Advisory Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Investment Advisory Group LLC now owns 7,684 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,463,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOG opened at $186.87 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $194.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $176.71. The company has a quick ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The company has a market capitalization of $2.29 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.00. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $131.55 and a 52-week high of $208.70.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (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%. Research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business 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 dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.94%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.67, for a total value of $3,975,075.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,061,806 shares in the company, valued at approximately $364,259,266.02. This represents a 1.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 43,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,471,620.22. This represents a 27.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 89,529 shares of company stock worth $16,600,078. 12.99% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on GOOG shares. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $212.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $182.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $209.13.

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.