Alerus Financial NA Makes New $222,000 Investment in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Alerus Financial NA purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 1,168 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $222,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Weiss Asset Management LP acquired a new position in Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter worth about $33,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Down 4.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ GOOG opened at $156.06 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.90 trillion, a PE ratio of 19.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $181.53 and its 200-day moving average is $178.31. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $148.20 and a 1 year high of $208.70.

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

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.51%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is 9.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,368 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.55, for a total transaction of $262,040.40. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 20,681 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,961,445.55. The trade was a 6.20 % 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, 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 43,981 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,471,620.22. This represents a 27.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 104,812 shares of company stock valued at $19,336,979 in the last 90 days. 12.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GOOG has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Benchmark reissued a “negative” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $208.56.

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.