Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Stock Holdings Lifted by Ethic Inc.

Ethic Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 15.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 416,362 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 56,953 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises approximately 1.6% of Ethic Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Ethic Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $79,292,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Ewing Morris & Co. Investment Partners Ltd. acquired a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $699,000. Fiduciary Trust Co increased its stake in Alphabet by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Fiduciary Trust Co now owns 369,582 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $70,383,000 after purchasing an additional 5,028 shares in the last quarter. Family Management Corp raised its holdings in Alphabet by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Family Management Corp now owns 7,319 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,394,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares during the last quarter. FWL Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. FWL Investment Management LLC now owns 75,402 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $14,360,000 after purchasing an additional 2,258 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clark Capital Management Group Inc. grew its holdings in Alphabet by 7.5% in the fourth quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. now owns 12,839 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,445,000 after purchasing an additional 894 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 673 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.33, for a total transaction of $104,537.09. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 15,303 shares in the company, valued at $2,377,014.99. This represents a 4.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 29,066 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.89, for a total value of $5,374,012.74. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 272,466 shares in the company, valued at $50,376,238.74. This represents a 9.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 146,824 shares of company stock worth $25,086,603. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Alphabet stock opened at $155.75 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $142.66 and a 52 week high of $208.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The stock has a market cap of $1.89 trillion, a P/E ratio of 19.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $161.33 and a 200-day moving average of $176.93.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. The firm had revenue of $90.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.89 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. This is an increase from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.36%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GOOG has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Westpark Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Benchmark reiterated a “negative” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Needham & Company LLC downgraded shares of Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “cautious” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “sell” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $203.94.

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.