Sigma Investment Counselors Inc. Purchases 1,012 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Sigma Investment Counselors Inc. grew its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 14.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,203 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,012 shares during the period. Sigma Investment Counselors Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,562,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 114,802,133 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $19,193,768,000 after acquiring an additional 5,655,022 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 10.3% in 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 valued at $5,573,125,000 after acquiring an additional 3,113,395 shares during the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 182.1% in the 3rd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 2,526,055 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $422,331,000 after acquiring an additional 1,630,701 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 9.1% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 15,424,324 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,578,793,000 after acquiring an additional 1,291,274 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 14.0% in the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 9,903,537 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,655,772,000 after acquiring an additional 1,218,671 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Phillip Securities upgraded Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Citizens Jmp downgraded Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on Alphabet from $212.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $209.13.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 43,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,471,620.22. This represents a 27.66 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 23,515 shares in the company, 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 three months, insiders have sold 134,299 shares of company stock valued at $25,055,751. 12.99% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Alphabet stock opened at $174.70 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The company has a market capitalization of $2.13 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.70, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.00. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $192.98 and its 200 day moving average is $177.64. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $131.55 and a twelve month high of $208.70.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share 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%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors 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 yield of 0.46%. 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.