Martin Capital Advisors LLP Purchases 150 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Martin Capital Advisors LLP raised its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 3.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,940 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the quarter. Martin Capital Advisors LLP’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $941,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Weiss Asset Management LP bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. grew its position in Alphabet by 87.3% in the third quarter. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. now owns 251 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares during the period. Finally, Compass Financial Services Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth about $65,000. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $212.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Citizens Jmp downgraded shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Alphabet from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their target price on Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $209.13.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,340 shares of the firm’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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 17,848 shares in the company, valued at $3,606,723.84. This trade represents a 6.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total transaction of $3,239,868.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 43,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,471,620.22. The trade was a 27.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 89,529 shares of company stock worth $16,600,078 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

Alphabet stock opened at $185.43 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.27 trillion, a P/E ratio of 23.03, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.00. The business has a 50-day moving average of $193.70 and a 200-day moving average of $176.40. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $131.55 and a 1 year high of $208.70.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings data 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%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.94%.

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.