Global Wealth Strategies & Associates Acquires 382 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Global Wealth Strategies & Associates lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 37.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,402 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 382 shares during the quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates’ holdings in Alphabet were worth $267,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of GOOG. Weiss Asset Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 9,200.0% in the second quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 186 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 184 shares during the period. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet in the third quarter valued at about $33,000. HWG Holdings LP bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Finally, Slocum Gordon & Co LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $44,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of GOOG traded down $0.09 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $190.35. 11,327,939 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 19,706,879. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $180.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is $173.79. The stock has a market cap of $2.33 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.02. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $131.55 and a 12 month high of $202.88.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. The business had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $86.39 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.55 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.02 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.42%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 10.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.95, for a total value of $247,425.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 26,324 shares in the company, valued at $4,342,143.80. This trade represents a 5.39 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.30, for a total transaction of $3,741,750.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,106,806 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $350,361,837.80. The trade was a 1.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 137,588 shares of company stock worth $24,473,081 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on GOOG. Scotiabank started coverage on Alphabet in a research note on Friday, October 11th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $212.00 price objective on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. DA Davidson upgraded shares of Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Phillip Securities upgraded shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $200.56.

Alphabet 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.