Pragma Gestao DE Patrimonio Ltd. Increases Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Pragma Gestao DE Patrimonio Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 50.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 117,500 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 39,500 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up about 12.3% of Pragma Gestao DE Patrimonio Ltd.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Pragma Gestao DE Patrimonio Ltd.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $22,377,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in GOOG. Howe & Rusling Inc. increased its position in Alphabet by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Howe & Rusling Inc. now owns 73,447 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $13,987,000 after buying an additional 1,587 shares during the last quarter. AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth $2,133,000. NEOS Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 21.8% during the 4th quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 403,102 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $76,767,000 after acquiring an additional 72,185 shares during the period. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 1,424,338 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $271,251,000 after purchasing an additional 28,171 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Moment Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $659,000. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet Stock Down 3.3 %

GOOG stock opened at $167.14 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $182.96 and a two-hundred day moving average of $178.36. The company has a market cap of $2.04 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.76, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. 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 12 month low of $148.20 and a 12 month high of $208.70.

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

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.94%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on GOOG shares. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Benchmark reiterated a “negative” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $209.13.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,340 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 17,848 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,606,723.84. This represents a 6.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total value of $33,106.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 7,813 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,293,285.89. The trade was a 2.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 93,048 shares of company stock valued at $17,374,274 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

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.