Aire Advisors LLC Increases Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Aire Advisors LLC grew its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 4.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 12,310 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 556 shares during the period. Aire Advisors LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $2,344,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Alphabet by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 11,024,276 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,843,149,000 after acquiring an additional 264,962 shares in the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 13,526 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,261,000 after buying an additional 909 shares in the last quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC now owns 12,240 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,046,000 after buying an additional 147 shares during the period. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.3% in the third quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 70,572 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $11,799,000 after acquiring an additional 1,580 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 62.0% during the third quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 157,622 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $26,351,000 after acquiring an additional 60,325 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on GOOG shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” 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 issued a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $209.13.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total transaction of $33,106.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 7,813 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,293,285.89. This represents a 2.50 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Ruth Porat sold 17,690 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.48, for a total transaction of $3,245,761.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,449,286 shares in the company, valued at approximately $265,914,995.28. The trade was a 1.21 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 93,048 shares of company stock valued at $17,374,274 over the last quarter. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Alphabet Trading Up 2.2 %

NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $169.93 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The company has a market capitalization of $2.07 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $183.93 and its 200 day moving average price is $178.30. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $148.20 and a 52-week high of $208.70.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share 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, research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.47%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.94%.

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.