Financial Sense Advisors Inc. Purchases 1,691 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Financial Sense Advisors Inc. grew its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 2.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 65,045 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,691 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up 4.1% of Financial Sense Advisors Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest position. Financial Sense Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $12,387,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. CogentBlue Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at $367,000. Jessup Wealth Management Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at $200,000. Private Advisor Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 442,834 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $84,333,000 after purchasing an additional 12,356 shares in the last quarter. Financial Perspectives Inc raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Financial Perspectives Inc now owns 27,589 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $5,254,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alberta Investment Management Corp raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 138.7% in the 4th quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp now owns 257,800 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $49,095,000 after purchasing an additional 149,805 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $181.58 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84. The firm has a market cap of $2.21 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.00. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $194.02 and a 200-day simple moving average of $177.34. 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 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%. On average, equities analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 9.94%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Citizens Jmp lowered shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Phillip Securities upgraded shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $212.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned 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 a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $209.13.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The shares were 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 $8,471,620.22. This trade represents a 27.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.41, for a total transaction of $232,950.47. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 23,515 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,007,191.15. This represents a 5.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 134,299 shares of company stock valued at $25,055,751. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

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.