Versant Capital Management Inc Buys 6,283 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 81.4% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 14,004 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 6,283 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $2,188,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. bought a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth $39,000. Finally, Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth $43,000. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.56, for a total transaction of $5,153,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,717,696 shares in the company, valued at approximately $430,917,877.76. This represents a 1.18% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,374 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.47, for a total transaction of $238,347.78. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 15,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,606,213.28. The trade was a 8.38% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 164,533 shares of company stock worth $26,772,774. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Alphabet stock opened at $172.96 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $160.92 and its 200-day moving average price is $176.39. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The company has a market cap of $2.10 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $142.66 and a twelve month high of $208.70.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. The company had revenue of $90.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.89 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. This is an increase from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 9.36%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Alphabet from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Benchmark reissued a “negative” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $209.00 to $173.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $203.94.

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.