Potomac Fund Management Inc. ADV Purchases New Shares in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Potomac Fund Management Inc. ADV purchased a new position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 2,152 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $410,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 6.8% during the 4th quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC now owns 16,248 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,094,000 after acquiring an additional 1,041 shares during the period. North Forty Two & Co. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $281,000. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 14.4% during the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 116,776 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $19,642,000 after purchasing an additional 14,738 shares during the last quarter. Requisite Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $927,000. Finally, Stevens Capital Management LP grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 172.9% in the 3rd quarter. Stevens Capital Management LP now owns 91,237 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $15,254,000 after buying an additional 57,810 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity 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 transaction, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,368 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.55, for a total value of $262,040.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 20,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,961,445.55. This trade represents a 6.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 88,665 shares of company stock worth $16,198,310. 12.99% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of GOOG stock opened at $158.88 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $179.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $178.70. The stock has a market cap of $1.94 trillion, a P/E ratio of 19.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $148.20 and a 12 month 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.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 EPS 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, research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.50%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 9.94%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on GOOG shares. Westpark Capital initiated coverage on Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday. They set a “buy” rating and a $210.00 price objective for the company. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Citizens Jmp downgraded shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $208.65.

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.