Romano Brothers AND Company Purchases 444 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Romano Brothers AND Company lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 0.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 47,330 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 444 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up approximately 1.0% of Romano Brothers AND Company’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. Romano Brothers AND Company’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $7,394,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth $38,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at $43,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on GOOG shares. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $171.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, April 25th. Needham & Company LLC lowered Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “cautious” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Scotiabank cut their price objective on Alphabet from $232.00 to $200.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 21st. Susquehanna reaffirmed a “positive” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $204.88.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value of $105,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 6,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,192,275. This trade represents a 8.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 10,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $1,837,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 261,966 shares in the company, valued at $45,844,050. The trade was a 3.85% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 163,270 shares of company stock valued at $26,553,563 over the last three months. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.4%

NASDAQ GOOG opened at $170.37 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.07 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $142.66 and a 52 week high of $208.70. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $160.95 and a two-hundred day moving average of $176.24.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued 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 analysts’ expectations 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.89 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

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

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.