Samalin Investment Counsel LLC Has $570,000 Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Samalin Investment Counsel LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 6.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,993 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 188 shares during the period. Samalin Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $570,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 11,024,276 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,843,149,000 after purchasing an additional 264,962 shares in the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 7.2% in the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 13,526 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,261,000 after purchasing an additional 909 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 11.3% in the 3rd quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 165,135 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $29,701,000 after purchasing an additional 16,807 shares in the last quarter. Stonebrook Private Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Stonebrook Private Inc. now owns 9,731 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,627,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GenTrust LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 95.4% in the 3rd quarter. GenTrust LLC now owns 8,491 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,420,000 after purchasing an additional 4,146 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $166.25 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $184.37 and a 200-day moving average of $178.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.03 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $148.20 and a twelve month high of $208.70.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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, sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 9.94%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on GOOG shares. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Citizens Jmp downgraded shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $209.13.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total transaction of $3,239,868.40. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 43,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,471,620.22. The trade was a 27.66 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Ruth Porat sold 17,690 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.48, for a total transaction of $3,245,761.20. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,449,286 shares in the company, valued at $265,914,995.28. This represents a 1.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 93,048 shares of company stock valued at $17,374,274. 12.99% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.