L.K. Benson & Company P.C. Purchases Shares of 1,180 Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

L.K. Benson & Company P.C. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 1,180 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $225,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC increased its position in Alphabet by 5.2% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 114,802,133 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $19,193,768,000 after buying an additional 5,655,022 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 103,557,486 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $17,247,208,000 after acquiring an additional 259,213 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in Alphabet by 10.3% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 33,334,082 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $5,573,125,000 after purchasing an additional 3,113,395 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 30,824,307 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $5,870,181,000 after purchasing an additional 875,480 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 9.1% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 15,424,324 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,578,793,000 after purchasing an additional 1,291,274 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on GOOG. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Benchmark reissued a “negative” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $209.13.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, insider Ruth Porat sold 17,690 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.48, for a total value of $3,245,761.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 1,449,286 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $265,914,995.28. This represents a 1.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 43,981 shares in the company, valued at $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 three months, insiders sold 93,048 shares of company stock valued at $17,374,274. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Down 2.3 %

Shares of GOOG opened at $162.67 on Wednesday. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $147.01 and a 12 month high of $208.70. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $186.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $178.10. 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 stock has a market cap of $1.98 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03.

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

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.94%.

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.