Southport Management L.L.C. Acquires Shares of 6,000 Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Southport Management L.L.C. acquired a new stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm acquired 6,000 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,143,000. Alphabet makes up about 4.2% of Southport Management L.L.C.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest position.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOG. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC increased 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 purchasing an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 9.3% during the 4th quarter. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC now owns 28,044 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $5,341,000 after purchasing an additional 2,390 shares during the last quarter. Cardinal Point Capital Management ULC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 52.1% during the 4th quarter. Cardinal Point Capital Management ULC now owns 14,762 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,811,000 after purchasing an additional 5,055 shares during the last quarter. Ignite Planners LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Ignite Planners LLC now owns 13,109 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,532,000 after purchasing an additional 181 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Biltmore Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Biltmore Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,098 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $780,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GOOG opened at $165.40 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $142.66 and a 52-week 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 firm’s fifty day moving average is $160.16 and its two-hundred day moving average is $176.77. The company has a market cap of $2.01 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. The company had revenue of $90.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $89.30 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.89 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on GOOG shares. Citigroup restated a “sell” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Susquehanna reiterated a “positive” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Needham & Company LLC lowered shares of Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “cautious” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Westpark Capital reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $203.94.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,690 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.51, for a total value of $3,281,671.90. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 43,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,997,521.61. This represents a 29.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 29,066 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $50,376,238.74. This trade represents a 9.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 179,324 shares of company stock worth $30,153,353 in the last 90 days. 12.99% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.