Strive Asset Management LLC Takes $2.56 Million Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Strive Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 13,414 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,555,000. Alphabet comprises about 1.9% of Strive Asset Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Sterling Financial Planning Inc. grew its holdings in Alphabet by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Financial Planning Inc. now owns 1,941 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $370,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 14,423 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,747,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Harrell Investment Partners LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Harrell Investment Partners LLC now owns 5,659 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,078,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC now owns 7,300 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,395,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hutchinson Capital Management CA grew its holdings in Alphabet by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Hutchinson Capital Management CA now owns 3,555 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $677,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of GOOG opened at $167.43 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $160.19 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $176.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $142.66 and a 52-week high of $208.70. The company has a market cap of $2.03 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.80, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. The firm had revenue of $90.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.30 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.89 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be given a $0.21 dividend. This is an increase from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.50%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is presently 9.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 29,066 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.89, for a total transaction of $5,374,012.74. Following the transaction, the director now owns 272,466 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $50,376,238.74. This represents a 9.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,824 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $187.43, for a total value of $529,302.32. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 15,024 shares in the company, valued at $2,815,948.32. This trade represents a 15.82% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 179,324 shares of company stock worth $30,153,353. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup reissued a “sell” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Tigress Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Susquehanna reissued a “positive” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $203.94.

Alphabet Company 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.