Strong Tower Advisory Services Increases Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Strong Tower Advisory Services boosted its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 3.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,383 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 103 shares during the quarter. Strong Tower Advisory Services’ holdings in Alphabet were worth $644,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Weiss Asset Management LP bought a new stake in Alphabet in the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 9,200.0% during the second quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 186 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet during the third quarter worth $33,000. HWG Holdings LP purchased a new position in Alphabet in the second quarter worth $40,000. Finally, Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. grew its stake in Alphabet by 87.3% in the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. now owns 251 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.42, for a total transaction of $234,331.14. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 26,349 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,516,745.58. This represents a 4.93 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.80, for a total value of $284,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 21,824 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,142,195.20. The trade was a 6.43 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 133,387 shares of company stock valued at $24,368,654. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GOOG has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Phillip Securities raised shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Scotiabank began coverage on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, October 11th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $212.00 target price for the company. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price objective on Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Alphabet from $187.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Six 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $200.56.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOG stock opened at $199.63 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $186.23 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $174.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.44 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.48, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 0.99. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $131.55 and a 12-month high of $203.84.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. The business had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $86.39 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. Alphabet’s quarterly revenue was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.55 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th were issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 10.61%.

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.