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

Novus Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 2,263 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $431,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Weiss Asset Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Finally, FPC Investment Advisory Inc. raised its position in Alphabet by 287.9% during 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.9 %

Alphabet stock opened at $175.75 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.14 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $189.85 and a 200 day simple moving average of $178.00. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $134.80 and a 1-year high of $208.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. On average, analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.94%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on GOOG. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Citizens Jmp lowered shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Benchmark reissued a “negative” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $209.13.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.22, for a total transaction of $291,330.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 23,324 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,529,987.28. The trade was a 6.04 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,374 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.47, for a total transaction of $238,347.78. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 15,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,606,213.28. This represents a 8.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 134,316 shares of company stock worth $25,062,887 in the last 90 days. 12.99% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.