Brighton Jones LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 9.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 118,806 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,492 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up 0.7% of Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $16,743,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in GOOG. Auxano Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 15.3% during the fourth quarter. Auxano Advisors LLC now owns 6,410 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $903,000 after acquiring an additional 850 shares during the last quarter. Certuity LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 24.5% during the fourth quarter. Certuity LLC now owns 23,073 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,415,000 after acquiring an additional 4,541 shares during the last quarter. GPM Growth Investors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 6.2% during the fourth quarter. GPM Growth Investors Inc. now owns 2,572 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $362,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 6.6% during the fourth quarter. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. now owns 51,317 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $7,232,000 after acquiring an additional 3,170 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. now owns 43,857 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $6,181,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Alphabet stock opened at $164.64 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $150.09 and its 200-day moving average is $143.16. The company has a market cap of $2.05 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 2.15 and a quick ratio of 2.10. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $104.50 and a 12 month high of $176.42.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.38. The business had revenue of $80.54 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $78.75 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 29.52% and a net margin of 25.90%. The company’s revenue was up 15.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.17 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a — dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Investors of record on Monday, June 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 10th.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 660 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.59, for a total transaction of $94,769.40. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,920 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,009,032.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 660 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.59, for a total transaction of $94,769.40. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,920 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,009,032.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.29, for a total value of $3,291,525.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,377,691 shares in the company, valued at $347,832,416.39. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 253,289 shares of company stock worth $36,724,534. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Susquehanna increased their price objective on Alphabet from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $165.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Oppenheimer raised their price target on Alphabet from $172.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Alphabet from $154.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Raymond James raised their price target on 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 stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $165.67.

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.