QRG Capital Management Inc. Has $182.35 Million Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 5.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 957,535 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 47,558 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises approximately 1.9% of QRG Capital Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest position. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $182,353,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Weiss Asset Management LP bought a new position in Alphabet in the third quarter worth $25,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter worth $33,000. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 87.3% in the third quarter. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. now owns 251 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FPC Investment Advisory Inc. grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 287.9% in the fourth quarter. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 225 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $172.22 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.10 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.39, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $192.17 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $177.84. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $131.55 and a 52-week high of $208.70.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. Analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.46%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 9.94%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total value of $3,239,868.40. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 43,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,471,620.22. This trade represents a 27.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 37,134 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.02, for a total value of $6,870,532.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 282,832 shares in the company, valued at $52,329,576.64. This trade represents a 11.61 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 132,942 shares of company stock valued at $24,824,539 over the last quarter. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on GOOG. Benchmark reissued a “negative” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Scotiabank increased their target price on Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Citizens Jmp cut Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $209.13.

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.