Smith Group Asset Management LLC Acquires 838 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Smith Group Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 0.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 210,517 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 838 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises 2.9% of Smith Group Asset Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest holding. Smith Group Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $39,851,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Verus Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth approximately $455,000. Foster Group Inc. grew its position in Alphabet by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Foster Group Inc. now owns 23,191 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $4,390,000 after purchasing an additional 866 shares in the last quarter. Gateway Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Gateway Wealth Partners LLC now owns 10,872 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,058,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares during the last quarter. BetterWealth LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 18.6% in the fourth quarter. BetterWealth LLC now owns 1,900 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $360,000 after buying an additional 298 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC now owns 39,234 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $7,427,000 after purchasing an additional 607 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on GOOGL shares. Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $208.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $210.95.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 37,134 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.02, for a total value of $6,870,532.68. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 282,832 shares in the company, valued at approximately $52,329,576.64. This represents a 11.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.67, for a total value of $3,975,075.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,061,806 shares in the company, valued at approximately $364,259,266.02. This trade represents a 1.08 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 89,529 shares of company stock valued at $16,600,078 over the last three months. Insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Down 7.3 %

Alphabet stock opened at $191.33 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $190.39 and a 200 day simple moving average of $174.40. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $130.66 and a 1-year high of $207.05. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The company has a market cap of $2.34 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.99.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. Research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.