Note Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Note Advisors 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 firm purchased 6,657 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,268,000. Alphabet accounts for approximately 1.1% of Note Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest holding.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GOOG. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 17,606 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,353,000 after acquiring an additional 108 shares during the period. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 9.3% during the fourth quarter. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC now owns 28,044 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $5,341,000 after purchasing an additional 2,390 shares in the last quarter. Jackson Square Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Jackson Square Capital LLC now owns 10,730 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,043,000 after acquiring an additional 181 shares during the last quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 3,860 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $735,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Smith Salley Wealth Management boosted its position in Alphabet by 10.1% during the 4th quarter. Smith Salley Wealth Management now owns 254,238 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $48,417,000 after buying an additional 23,389 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.5%

Shares of GOOG stock opened at $165.32 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.01 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.54, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $142.66 and a fifty-two week high of $208.70. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $160.18 and its two-hundred day moving average is $176.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. The company had revenue of $90.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $89.30 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.89 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th will be given a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.51%. This is a positive change from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.56, for a total transaction of $5,153,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,717,696 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $430,917,877.76. This represents a 1.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total value of $33,106.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 7,813 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,293,285.89. The trade was a 2.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 129,744 shares of company stock valued at $20,968,366. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “sell” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Susquehanna reissued a “positive” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Tigress Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $203.94.

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.