Venturi Wealth Management LLC Has $3.77 Million Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 5.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 19,808 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,013 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $3,772,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of GOOG. Weiss Asset Management LP bought a new stake in Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. increased its stake in Alphabet by 87.3% during the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. now owns 251 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Alphabet by 33.0% during the 4th quarter. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 266 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Price Performance

NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $181.58 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $131.55 and a 1-year high of $208.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $194.02 and a 200 day simple moving average of $177.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.21 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.00.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. On average, research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders 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 yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is 9.94%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 37,134 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.02, for a total value of $6,870,532.68. Following the transaction, the director now owns 282,832 shares in the company, valued at approximately $52,329,576.64. This trade represents a 11.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Ruth Porat sold 17,690 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.48, for a total value of $3,245,761.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 1,449,286 shares in the company, valued at $265,914,995.28. The trade was a 1.21 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 134,299 shares of company stock valued at $25,055,751. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on GOOG shares. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Citizens Jmp cut shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $209.13.

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.