Ascension Capital Advisors Inc. Invests $233,000 in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Ascension Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm bought 1,225 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $233,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of GOOG. JFG Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. JFG Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,131 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $406,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 22.5% in the 4th quarter. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC now owns 1,653 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $315,000 after purchasing an additional 304 shares during the last quarter. Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $11,472,000. LGL Partners LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. LGL Partners LLC now owns 5,056 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $963,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FFT Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. FFT Wealth Management LLC now owns 24,536 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $4,673,000 after purchasing an additional 324 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were 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 directly 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total transaction of $3,239,868.40. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 43,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,471,620.22. This represents a 27.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 134,309 shares of company stock valued at $25,057,490. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GOOG opened at $172.22 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $2.10 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.39, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $131.55 and a 1-year high of $208.70. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $192.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $177.65.

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

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on GOOG. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Benchmark reiterated a “negative” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.