Victrix Investment Advisors Takes Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Victrix Investment Advisors purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 6,247 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,190,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of GOOG. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 6.8% during the fourth quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC now owns 16,248 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,094,000 after purchasing an additional 1,041 shares during the period. Harvest Investment Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Harvest Investment Services LLC now owns 4,329 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $824,000 after buying an additional 138 shares during the last quarter. North Forty Two & Co. bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth about $281,000. SageView Advisory Group LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 140.6% in the 4th quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC now owns 14,734 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,806,000 after buying an additional 8,610 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Requisite Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at about $927,000. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GOOG has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Susquehanna restated a “positive” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Citigroup restated a “sell” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Westpark Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC downgraded shares of Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “cautious” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $203.94.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Alphabet stock opened at $167.43 on Monday. 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 stock has a market cap of $2.03 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.80, a P/E/G 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. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $160.19 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $176.77.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. The company 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%. The firm’s revenue was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.89 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share 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 issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This is an increase from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.50%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total value of $33,106.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 7,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,293,285.89. This represents a 2.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,690 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $7,997,521.61. This represents a 29.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 179,324 shares of company stock worth $30,153,353 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

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.