Blueshift Asset Management LLC Takes Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Blueshift Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 4,317 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $822,000.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in GOOG. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 11,024,276 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,843,149,000 after buying an additional 264,962 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 4,715.5% in the 3rd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 8,090 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,353,000 after buying an additional 7,922 shares during the period. Avior Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 24,940 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $4,170,000 after purchasing an additional 1,344 shares during the period. Thompson Davis & CO. Inc. boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 13.7% during the 3rd quarter. Thompson Davis & CO. Inc. now owns 4,531 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $758,000 after purchasing an additional 546 shares during the period. Finally, Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $4,519,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Monday, December 30th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $8,471,620.22. The trade was a 27.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,340 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total transaction of $270,787.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 17,848 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,606,723.84. This represents a 6.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 93,048 shares of company stock worth $17,374,274. 12.99% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of GOOG opened at $166.28 on Thursday. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $147.67 and a 1-year high of $208.70. The stock has a market cap of $2.03 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $185.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $178.02.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.48%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.94%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on GOOG shares. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Benchmark reissued a “negative” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $209.13.

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.