First Citizens Financial Corp Acquires Shares of 1,228 Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

First Citizens Financial Corp purchased a new position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 1,228 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $234,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Weiss Asset Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet in the 3rd quarter worth about $33,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 9,200.0% during the second quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 186 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. HWG Holdings LP acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the second quarter worth approximately $40,000. Finally, Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 87.3% in the third quarter. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. now owns 251 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on GOOG. Seaport Res Ptn raised Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $187.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Pivotal Research increased their target price on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Citizens Jmp downgraded shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, DA Davidson upgraded shares of Alphabet to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $200.56.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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. The trade was a 27.66 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 26,324 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,342,143.80. This trade represents a 5.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 154,519 shares of company stock valued at $27,734,316. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of Alphabet stock traded up $2.93 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $193.56. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 5,791,716 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,523,202. The company has a market cap of $2.37 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.67, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.02. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $181.25 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $173.90. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $131.55 and a 12-month high of $202.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a current ratio of 1.95.

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

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 10.61%.

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.