Northwest Quadrant Wealth Management LLC Grows Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Northwest Quadrant Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 14.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,966 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 242 shares during the quarter. Northwest Quadrant Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $374,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at about $38,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. purchased a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at about $43,000. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on GOOG shares. Scotiabank dropped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $232.00 to $200.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 21st. KeyCorp dropped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $202.00 to $185.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Tigress Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “sell” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $203.94.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,690 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.51, for a total transaction of $3,281,671.90. Following the sale, the insider now owns 43,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,997,521.61. This represents a 29.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.90, for a total transaction of $5,066,750.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,652,696 shares in the company, valued at $413,555,306.40. This trade represents a 1.21% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 179,324 shares of company stock valued at $30,153,353. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ GOOG opened at $160.89 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $160.39 and its 200-day moving average is $176.86. 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 firm has a market cap of $1.95 trillion, a P/E ratio of 19.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $142.66 and a 12-month high of $208.70.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. The business had revenue of $90.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. Alphabet’s revenue was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.89 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. This is a positive change from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is 9.36%.

Alphabet Company 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.