Blankinship & Foster LLC Makes New $1.64 Million Investment in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Blankinship & Foster LLC bought a new position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 8,602 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,638,000. Alphabet accounts for 0.4% of Blankinship & Foster LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd largest holding.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Weiss Asset Management LP acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter worth $33,000. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 87.3% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. now owns 251 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at about $43,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Ruth Porat sold 17,690 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.48, for a total transaction of $3,245,761.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,449,286 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $265,914,995.28. This represents a 1.21 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,340 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total transaction of $270,787.20. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 17,848 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,606,723.84. This represents a 6.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 134,316 shares of company stock valued at $25,062,887. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on GOOG. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Benchmark reissued a “negative” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $209.13.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of GOOG stock opened at $175.75 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $134.80 and a 52-week high of $208.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $189.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $178.00. The company has a market capitalization of $2.14 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.83, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. Research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 9.94%.

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.