Aptus Capital Advisors LLC Has $86.71 Million Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Aptus Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 23.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 455,286 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 85,886 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises approximately 0.9% of Aptus Capital Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest position. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $86,705,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Sterling Financial Planning Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Financial Planning Inc. now owns 1,941 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $370,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 14,423 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,747,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the period. Harrell Investment Partners LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Harrell Investment Partners LLC now owns 5,659 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,078,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC now owns 7,300 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,395,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the period. Finally, Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Alphabet by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 5,073 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $966,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.56, for a total value of $5,153,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,717,696 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $430,917,877.76. This trade represents a 1.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,340 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total transaction of $270,787.20. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 17,848 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,606,723.84. The trade was a 6.98 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 148,164 shares of company stock valued at $25,357,390. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Up 1.9 %

NASDAQ GOOG opened at $165.81 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $162.25 and its 200 day moving average is $177.09. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $142.66 and a 1 year high of $208.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.01 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.60, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.30 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.89 EPS. Alphabet’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOG has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Westpark Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, April 25th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “negative” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $171.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Needham & Company LLC lowered shares of Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “cautious” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Susquehanna reaffirmed a “positive” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $203.94.

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.