Occidental Asset Management LLC Raises Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Occidental Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 10.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 19,572 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,922 shares during the period. Occidental Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $2,980,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Veracity Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 12.4% in the 4th quarter. Veracity Capital LLC now owns 10,597 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,493,000 after buying an additional 1,173 shares during the period. Independence Bank of Kentucky raised its position in Alphabet by 25.3% in the fourth quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 6,093 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $859,000 after acquiring an additional 1,230 shares in the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 11.9% in the first quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 109,878 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $16,730,000 after acquiring an additional 11,646 shares during the period. Strategic Blueprint LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 36.7% during the 4th quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC now owns 15,068 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,123,000 after purchasing an additional 4,044 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Investment Partners LTD. grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. Investment Partners LTD. now owns 7,446 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,049,000 after purchasing an additional 410 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of GOOG traded down $3.44 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $183.42. 23,032,362 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 17,822,788. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.27 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.01. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $174.40 and a 200 day simple moving average of $155.53. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $115.83 and a fifty-two week high of $187.50. The company has a quick ratio of 2.15, a current ratio of 2.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.38. Alphabet had a net margin of 25.90% and a return on equity of 29.52%. The business had revenue of $80.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $78.75 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.17 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a — dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 10th were issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 12.27%.

Insider Activity

In other Alphabet news, SVP Prabhakar Raghavan sold 3,258 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.97, for a total transaction of $508,150.26. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 144,685 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,566,519.45. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.40, for a total transaction of $3,991,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,213,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $392,588,151.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Prabhakar Raghavan sold 3,258 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.97, for a total transaction of $508,150.26. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 144,685 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,566,519.45. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 146,284 shares of company stock valued at $24,534,393 in the last 90 days. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on GOOG shares. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $165.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Rosenblatt Securities lowered Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $181.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Friday. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $172.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Alphabet from $154.00 to $174.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $167.86.

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.