Lincoln Capital LLC Boosts Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Lincoln Capital LLC grew its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 1.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,214 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 245 shares during the quarter. Lincoln Capital LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $2,517,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 5.2% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 114,802,133 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $19,193,768,000 after purchasing an additional 5,655,022 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 10.3% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 33,334,082 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $5,573,125,000 after purchasing an additional 3,113,395 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in Alphabet by 65.9% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 6,294,332 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,052,349,000 after buying an additional 2,500,621 shares during the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its position in Alphabet by 182.1% during the 3rd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 2,526,055 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $422,331,000 after buying an additional 1,630,701 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 9.1% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 15,424,324 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,578,793,000 after buying an additional 1,291,274 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total value of $3,239,868.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 43,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,471,620.22. This represents a 27.66 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,834 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total value of $550,702.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 17,847 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,468,029.04. This trade represents a 13.70 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 133,387 shares of company stock worth $24,368,654. 12.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOG stock opened at $199.63 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $186.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $174.83. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $131.55 and a 12-month high of $203.84. The company has a market capitalization of $2.44 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. The business had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $86.39 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.55 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th were paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.61%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GOOG has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Citizens Jmp lowered shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target 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. Barclays upped their target price on Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seaport Res Ptn raised Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price objective on Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $200.56.

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.