Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC Acquires 115 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 31.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 475 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 115 shares during the quarter. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $90,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in GOOG. Weiss Asset Management LP purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the third quarter worth $25,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet during the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. purchased a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $43,000. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on GOOG. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Benchmark reissued a “negative” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $209.13.

Insider Activity

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,340 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total transaction of $270,787.20. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Ruth Porat sold 17,690 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.48, for a total value of $3,245,761.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,449,286 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $265,914,995.28. This trade represents a 1.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 93,048 shares of company stock worth $17,374,274. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GOOG opened at $172.79 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.11 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $183.56 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $178.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $148.20 and a one year high of $208.70.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.46%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is 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.