Cullen Investment Group LTD. Purchases New Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Cullen Investment Group LTD. purchased a new stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor purchased 104,811 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $14,771,000. Alphabet comprises 2.6% of Cullen Investment Group LTD.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest position.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Totem Point Management LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 22.0% during the 1st quarter. Totem Point Management LLC now owns 3,171 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $8,857,000 after purchasing an additional 571 shares in the last quarter. Somerville Kurt F increased its stake in Alphabet by 10.3% during the 1st quarter. Somerville Kurt F now owns 118 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $330,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. BCK Partners Inc. bought a new stake in Alphabet during the 1st quarter worth approximately $2,564,000. Hall Capital Management Co. Inc. increased its stake in Alphabet by 53.2% during the 1st quarter. Hall Capital Management Co. Inc. now owns 144 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $402,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fairfield Bush & CO. increased its stake in Alphabet by 6.8% during the 1st quarter. Fairfield Bush & CO. now owns 3,370 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $9,412,000 after purchasing an additional 214 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.56, for a total transaction of $127,648.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 7,991 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,275,043.96. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director Frances Arnold sold 230 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.06, for a total transaction of $35,433.80. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 15,104 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,326,922.24. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 800 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Friday, April 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.56, for a total value of $127,648.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 7,991 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,275,043.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 228,839 shares of company stock valued at $32,835,757. 12.99% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Price Performance

NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $156.00 on Wednesday. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $103.27 and a 1-year high of $161.70. The company has a current ratio of 2.10, a quick ratio of 2.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $146.95 and a 200 day simple moving average of $141.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.94 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The information services provider reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. Alphabet had a net margin of 24.01% and a return on equity of 27.22%. The business had revenue of $86.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $85.28 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.05 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 13.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 6.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOG has been the subject of several research reports. Susquehanna raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $165.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $154.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $172.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Raymond James raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $159.86.

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.