Sterling Investment Management LLC Acquires 131 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Sterling Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 0.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,006 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 131 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up 1.4% of Sterling Investment Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. Sterling Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,974,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Financial Advisors Network Inc. boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 4.5% during the first quarter. Financial Advisors Network Inc. now owns 161 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $450,000 after acquiring an additional 7 shares during the period. Turim 21 Investimentos Ltda. raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 10.8% during the first quarter. Turim 21 Investimentos Ltda. now owns 82 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $229,000 after buying an additional 8 shares during the last quarter. West Michigan Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 3.7% during the first quarter. West Michigan Advisors LLC now owns 252 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $704,000 after buying an additional 9 shares during the last quarter. Somerville Kurt F raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 10.3% during the first quarter. Somerville Kurt F now owns 118 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $330,000 after buying an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.4% during the first quarter. Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,182 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,301,000 after buying an additional 16 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.78, for a total transaction of $3,347,550.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,310,191 shares in the company, valued at $343,710,216.98. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 425 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.61, for a total value of $59,334.25. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,259 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,805,628.99. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.78, for a total transaction of $3,347,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,310,191 shares in the company, valued at $343,710,216.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 251,378 shares of company stock worth $35,461,377. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on GOOG shares. Susquehanna upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Raymond James increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $146.33.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of GOOG stock opened at $151.94 on Thursday. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $100.28 and a 52-week high of $155.20. The stock has a market cap of $1.89 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.20, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 2.10 and a current ratio of 2.10. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $144.57 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $139.30.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The information services provider reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $86.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $85.28 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 24.01% and a return on equity of 27.22%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.05 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 6.77 EPS for the current year.

About Alphabet

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.