Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Acquires 48,640 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 2.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,980,721 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 48,640 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for 0.5% of Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest holding. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $279,143,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of GOOG. Coombe Bender & Co LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at about $212,000. LGT Group Foundation boosted its stake in Alphabet by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. LGT Group Foundation now owns 356,027 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $50,299,000 after purchasing an additional 17,356 shares during the period. JFG Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $350,000. Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC now owns 109,036 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $15,366,000 after acquiring an additional 1,942 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wilbanks Smith & Thomas Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Wilbanks Smith & Thomas Asset Management LLC now owns 57,562 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $8,112,000 after acquiring an additional 2,008 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, CFO Ruth Porat sold 48,077 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.22, for a total transaction of $6,597,125.94. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 1,777,106 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $243,854,485.32. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.29, for a total value of $3,291,525.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,377,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $347,832,416.39. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Ruth Porat sold 48,077 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.22, for a total transaction of $6,597,125.94. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 1,777,106 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $243,854,485.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 275,129 shares of company stock valued at $40,382,765 in the last three months. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $168.99 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 2.15 and a quick ratio of 2.10. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $150.99 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $143.49. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $104.70 and a 1 year high of $176.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.10 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.02.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $78.75 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.17 EPS. Alphabet’s quarterly revenue was up 15.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.66 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Susquehanna raised their price objective on Alphabet from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $165.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $154.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Raymond James raised their price objective on Alphabet from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Alphabet from $172.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $165.67.

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.