Ashton Thomas Securities LLC Buys 3,887 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Ashton Thomas Securities LLC lifted its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 29.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 17,176 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,887 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for about 0.9% of Ashton Thomas Securities LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest position. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $3,270,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. GQG Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 181,679.1% in the 4th quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 7,225,721 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,376,066,000 after buying an additional 7,221,746 shares during the period. Princeton Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Princeton Capital Management LLC now owns 16,917 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,222,000 after acquiring an additional 206 shares in the last quarter. Prospect Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth about $350,000. Modern Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 367.3% during the 4th quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC now owns 76,752 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $14,445,000 after acquiring an additional 60,327 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CoreFirst Bank & Trust purchased a new position in Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at about $360,000. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,368 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.55, for a total transaction of $262,040.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 20,681 shares in the company, valued at $3,961,445.55. The trade was a 6.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total transaction of $3,239,868.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 43,981 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,471,620.22. The trade was a 27.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 93,048 shares of company stock worth $17,374,274 over the last three months. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GOOG has been the subject of several research reports. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Scotiabank lifted 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. Citizens Jmp cut Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Benchmark reiterated a “negative” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $209.13.

Alphabet Stock Up 2.2 %

NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $169.93 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $148.20 and a twelve month high of $208.70. The company has a market cap of $2.07 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. The company’s 50 day moving average is $183.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is $178.30.

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

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.94%.

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.