Park Avenue Securities LLC Acquires 2,259 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Park Avenue Securities LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 2.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 107,428 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,259 shares during the quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $20,459,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Weiss Asset Management LP bought a new stake in Alphabet in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 3rd quarter worth $33,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 9,200.0% in the second 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 period. HWG Holdings LP purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the second quarter valued at $40,000. Finally, Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 87.3% in the third quarter. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. now owns 251 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Performance

GOOG opened at $194.48 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.38 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.79, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 0.99. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $131.55 and a fifty-two week high of $202.88. 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 company has a fifty day moving average of $185.32 and a 200 day moving average of $174.70.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) 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 firm had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $86.39 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.55 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.41%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.36, for a total value of $3,990,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,084,306 shares in the company, valued at approximately $369,672,512.16. The trade was a 1.07 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.42, for a total value of $234,331.14. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 26,349 shares in the company, valued at $4,516,745.58. The trade was a 4.93 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 133,387 shares of company stock worth $24,368,654. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on GOOG shares. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $182.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Alphabet from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on Alphabet from $212.00 to $216.00 and gave the company 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $200.56.

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.