Horizon Investment Services LLC Boosts Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Horizon Investment Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 1.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,298 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 153 shares during the period. Horizon Investment Services LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,771,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of GOOG. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at about $5,166,070,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,551,533,000. GQG Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 181,679.1% in the 4th quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 7,225,721 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,376,066,000 after purchasing an additional 7,221,746 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 5,712.8% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,367,831 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $831,810,000 after purchasing an additional 4,292,689 shares during the period. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $328,018,000. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GOOG has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Benchmark reaffirmed a “negative” 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 report on Wednesday, February 5th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their target price on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $208.56.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of GOOG opened at $156.06 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.90 trillion, a PE ratio of 19.39, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $181.53 and a 200-day moving average price of $178.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $148.20 and a fifty-two week high of $208.70.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. Equities analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.94%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,368 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.55, for a total transaction of $262,040.40. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 20,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,961,445.55. The trade was a 6.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Ruth Porat sold 17,690 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.48, for a total value of $3,245,761.20. Following the sale, the insider now owns 1,449,286 shares in the company, valued at approximately $265,914,995.28. The trade was a 1.21 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 104,812 shares of company stock valued at $19,336,979 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

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.