Ardent Capital Management Inc. Has $19.75 Million Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Ardent Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 0.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 103,706 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up about 9.0% of Ardent Capital Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. Ardent Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $19,750,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of GOOG. Weiss Asset Management LP bought a new position in Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. raised its position 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 last quarter. Finally, Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. raised its position in Alphabet by 33.0% in the 4th quarter. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 266 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have issued reports on GOOG shares. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Alphabet from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Barclays lifted their target price on Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Alphabet from $182.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $209.13.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, insider Ruth Porat sold 17,690 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 1,449,286 shares in the company, valued at $265,914,995.28. The trade was a 1.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,340 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total value of $270,787.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 17,848 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,606,723.84. This trade represents a 6.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 134,299 shares of company stock valued at $25,055,751. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Down 0.2 %

NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $181.19 on Tuesday. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $131.55 and a 1 year high of $208.70. 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 stock has a market cap of $2.21 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.51, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.00. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $193.68 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $177.58.

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

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.44%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 9.94%.

About Alphabet

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.