Moran Wealth Management LLC Boosts Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Moran Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 2.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 113,629 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,777 shares during the quarter. Moran Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $21,640,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Weiss Asset Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 87.3% during the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. now owns 251 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $43,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $175.75 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The firm has a market cap of $2.14 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.83, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $189.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $178.07. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $134.80 and a 12-month high of $208.70.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. On average, research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.46%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 9.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.22, for a total transaction of $291,330.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 23,324 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,529,987.28. This represents a 6.04 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,374 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.47, for a total transaction of $238,347.78. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 15,024 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,606,213.28. This trade represents a 8.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 134,316 shares of company stock valued at $25,062,887. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on GOOG shares. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Benchmark reiterated a “negative” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $209.13.

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.