Blueshift Asset Management LLC Invests $822,000 in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Blueshift Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 4,317 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $822,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Weiss Asset Management LP acquired a new position in Alphabet during the third quarter worth about $25,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter valued at about $33,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at about $43,000. Finally, FPC Investment Advisory Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 287.9% in the fourth quarter. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 225 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday. Citizens Jmp downgraded shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $209.13.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,368 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.55, for a total transaction of $262,040.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 20,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,961,445.55. This trade represents a 6.20 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 29,066 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.89, for a total transaction of $5,374,012.74. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 272,466 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $50,376,238.74. The trade was a 9.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 93,048 shares of company stock valued at $17,374,274 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOG stock opened at $166.28 on Thursday. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $147.67 and a one year high of $208.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $185.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $178.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.03 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings data 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%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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 0.48%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 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.