GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC Has $3.09 Million Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 6.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 16,248 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,041 shares during the period. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $3,094,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of GOOG. Horst & Graben Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 28.8% in the 4th quarter. Horst & Graben Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,811 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $535,000 after purchasing an additional 629 shares during the period. CENTRAL TRUST Co boosted its stake in Alphabet by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 93,305 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $17,769,000 after buying an additional 390 shares in the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. grew its position in Alphabet by 15.6% in the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 2,412 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $459,000 after acquiring an additional 326 shares during the period. McAdam LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 25.7% during the fourth quarter. McAdam LLC now owns 11,039 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,102,000 after acquiring an additional 2,254 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. now owns 45,923 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $8,849,000 after acquiring an additional 392 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on GOOG. Phillip Securities upgraded shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays boosted their target price on Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Pivotal Research raised their price target on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $182.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $209.13.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,340 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total value of $270,787.20. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 17,848 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,606,723.84. This represents a 6.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of the business’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. The trade was a 27.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 89,529 shares of company stock worth $16,600,078 in the last three months. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Down 6.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ GOOG opened at $193.30 on Thursday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $2.37 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.00. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $191.88 and its 200-day moving average is $175.91. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $131.55 and a 1 year high of $208.70.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. Equities analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.02 EPS for the current year.

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.