Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Acquired by Benchmark Investment Advisors LLC

Benchmark Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 3.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 7,763 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 263 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for 1.0% of Benchmark Investment Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest holding. Benchmark Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,478,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of GOOG. Sterling Financial Planning Inc. grew its stake in Alphabet by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Financial Planning Inc. now owns 1,941 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $370,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 14,423 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,747,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Harrell Investment Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Harrell Investment Partners LLC now owns 5,659 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,078,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC now owns 7,300 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,395,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Alphabet by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 5,073 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $966,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on GOOG. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Westpark Capital began coverage on Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $210.00 target price for the company. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price target on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $208.65.

Alphabet Stock Down 3.2 %

GOOG stock opened at $147.74 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $177.04 and its two-hundred day moving average is $178.43. The company has a market capitalization of $1.80 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.04. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $147.54 and a 52 week 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.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 EPS for the quarter, topping 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, analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.54%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.94%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 673 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.33, for a total value of $104,537.09. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 15,303 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,377,014.99. The trade was a 4.21 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.56, for a total transaction of $5,153,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,717,696 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $430,917,877.76. This represents a 1.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 119,797 shares of company stock valued at $21,089,470 over the last 90 days. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet 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.