Smart Money Group LLC Acquires 105 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Smart Money Group LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 6.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,754 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the quarter. Smart Money Group LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $334,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in Alphabet in the 3rd quarter worth about $33,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 9,200.0% in the 2nd quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 186 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. HWG Holdings LP bought a new position in Alphabet in the 2nd quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. increased its stake in Alphabet by 87.3% in the 3rd 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. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.41, for a total value of $232,950.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 23,515 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,007,191.15. This represents a 5.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 441 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.06, for a total value of $75,437.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,820,779.40. This represents a 2.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 133,387 shares of company stock valued at $24,368,654. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Up 1.1 %

NASDAQ GOOG opened at $199.63 on Wednesday. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $131.55 and a fifty-two week high of $203.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a current ratio of 1.95. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $186.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $174.83. The stock has a market cap of $2.44 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 0.99.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. The business had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $86.39 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.55 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th were issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 10.61%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on GOOG shares. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price objective on Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Pivotal Research upped their price objective on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Citizens Jmp cut Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Alphabet from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $200.56.

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.