Alerus Financial NA Takes Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Alerus Financial NA purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 1,168 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $222,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 103,557,486 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $17,247,208,000 after acquiring an additional 259,213 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 30,824,307 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $5,870,181,000 after purchasing an additional 875,480 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $5,166,070,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.5% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 11,024,276 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,843,149,000 after purchasing an additional 264,962 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB grew its stake in Alphabet by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 8,483,070 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,615,516,000 after purchasing an additional 144,170 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total value of $33,106.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 7,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,293,285.89. This trade represents a 2.50 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total value of $3,239,868.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 104,812 shares of company stock worth $19,336,979 over the last ninety days. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Trading Down 4.9 %

Shares of GOOG stock opened at $156.06 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $181.53 and a 200 day simple moving average of $178.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.90 trillion, a P/E ratio of 19.39, 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 fifty-two week low of $148.20 and a fifty-two week high of $208.70.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted 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, sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.51%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is presently 9.94%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOG has been the topic of several research reports. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $208.56.

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.