Advisors Capital Management LLC Has $95.88 Million Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Advisors Capital Management LLC raised its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 0.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 503,464 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,488 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises approximately 1.5% of Advisors Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Advisors Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $95,880,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth $39,000. Finally, Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $43,000. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on GOOG. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a “neutral” rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Citizens Jmp lowered shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Westpark Capital assumed coverage on Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $210.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Benchmark reissued a “negative” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $208.71.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.56, for a total transaction of $5,153,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,717,696 shares in the company, valued at approximately $430,917,877.76. This trade represents a 1.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,834 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total value of $550,702.88. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 17,847 shares in the company, valued at $3,468,029.04. The trade was a 13.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 119,797 shares of company stock valued at $21,089,470 in the last ninety days. 12.99% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Stock Up 2.6 %

Shares of GOOG opened at $159.40 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $170.50 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $177.89. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $142.66 and a 12 month high of $208.70. The company has a market capitalization of $1.94 trillion, a PE ratio of 19.80, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

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

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.94%.

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.