FPC Investment Advisory Inc. Boosts Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

FPC Investment Advisory Inc. grew its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 287.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 225 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 167 shares during the quarter. FPC Investment Advisory Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $46,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Swedbank AB grew its position in Alphabet by 0.6% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 8,338,900 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,394,181,000 after acquiring an additional 51,226 shares during the period. Ellis Investment Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 10.0% in the 3rd quarter. Ellis Investment Partners LLC now owns 41,119 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $6,875,000 after purchasing an additional 3,737 shares in the last quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 8.5% during the 3rd quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 116,039 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $19,401,000 after purchasing an additional 9,118 shares during the period. OMNI 360 Wealth Inc. increased its position in Alphabet by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter. OMNI 360 Wealth Inc. now owns 4,851 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $811,000 after purchasing an additional 262 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd. raised its holdings in Alphabet by 0.4% in the third quarter. Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd. now owns 18,921 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,163,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Alphabet news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 37,134 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.02, for a total value of $6,870,532.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 282,832 shares in the company, valued at $52,329,576.64. The trade was a 11.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.41, for a total value of $232,950.47. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 23,515 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,007,191.15. This trade represents a 5.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 134,299 shares of company stock worth $25,055,751. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Benchmark reiterated a “negative” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Citigroup upped their target price on Alphabet from $212.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $209.13.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of GOOG stock opened at $177.37 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $193.29 and a two-hundred day moving average of $177.66. The firm has a market cap of $2.16 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.00. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $131.55 and a 1-year high of $208.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 EPS for the quarter, topping 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, research analysts anticipate 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 will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.45%. 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.