Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Acquired by Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc.

Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. boosted its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 16.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 124,120 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 17,749 shares during the period. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $17,492,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 11.3% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 95,941,129 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $12,649,838,000 after acquiring an additional 9,703,425 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at about $11,600,970,000. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 3.8% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 120,234,117 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $15,852,868,000 after buying an additional 4,348,188 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 198.7% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 3,882,882 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $547,215,000 after buying an additional 2,583,128 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 93.9% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 4,591,383 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $647,064,000 after acquiring an additional 2,222,950 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on GOOG. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target 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. Susquehanna raised their target price on Alphabet from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Alphabet from $172.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Raymond James increased their price objective on Alphabet from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $165.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $165.67.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG traded up $0.53 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $168.99. 22,767,056 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 22,353,938. The company has a market capitalization of $2.10 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.02. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $104.70 and a 52-week high of $176.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 2.10 and a current ratio of 2.15. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $150.99 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $143.49.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.38. The company had revenue of $80.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $78.75 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 29.52% and a net margin of 25.90%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.17 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a — dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Investors of record on Monday, June 10th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 10th.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.49, for a total transaction of $93,086.18. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 28,602 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,903,886.98. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.49, for a total value of $93,086.18. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 28,602 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,903,886.98. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 48,076 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.20, for a total transaction of $6,836,407.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,725 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,809,495. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 275,129 shares of company stock valued at $40,382,765. 12.99% of the stock is owned by 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.