HTLF Bank Raises Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

HTLF Bank increased its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 2.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 15,733 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 341 shares during the period. HTLF Bank’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $2,996,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Harrell Investment Partners LLC lifted its position in Alphabet by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Harrell Investment Partners LLC now owns 5,659 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,078,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its position 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 valued at $966,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Tempus Wealth Planning LLC grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Tempus Wealth Planning LLC now owns 3,337 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $636,000 after buying an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Investment Advisory Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Investment Advisory Group LLC now owns 7,684 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,463,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Finally, McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,275 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $243,000 after buying an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,340 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total transaction of $270,787.20. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 17,848 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,606,723.84. The trade was a 6.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.67, for a total value of $3,975,075.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,061,806 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $364,259,266.02. The trade was a 1.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 89,529 shares of company stock worth $16,600,078. 12.99% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOG opened at $185.43 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The firm has a market cap of $2.27 trillion, a PE ratio of 23.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.00. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $131.55 and a 12 month high of $208.70. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $193.70 and a 200-day moving average price of $176.40.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share 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%. Equities research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.94%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price target on Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Citizens Jmp downgraded Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Alphabet from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $182.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $209.13.

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.