Berkshire Bank Boosts Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Berkshire Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 32.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,382 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,815 shares during the quarter. Berkshire Bank’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,406,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of GOOG. Weiss Asset Management LP bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 87.3% in the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. now owns 251 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 32.3% in the 3rd quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 344 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the period. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $76,000. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Up 2.8 %

NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $202.63 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.95. The firm has a market cap of $2.48 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a 50-day moving average of $189.03 and a 200 day moving average of $175.35. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $131.55 and a 1-year high of $203.84.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. The firm 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.55 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on GOOG. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price target on Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $182.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Citizens Jmp downgraded shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Alphabet from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $206.69.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.41, for a total transaction of $232,950.47. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 23,515 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,007,191.15. This represents a 5.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.22, for a total transaction of $291,330.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 23,324 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,529,987.28. The trade was a 6.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 121,630 shares of company stock valued at $22,258,133 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

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.