PDS Planning Inc Grows Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

PDS Planning Inc grew its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 10.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 34,948 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,447 shares during the quarter. PDS Planning Inc’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $6,656,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in GOOG. Weiss Asset Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new position in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $43,000. Finally, FPC Investment Advisory Inc. grew its stake in Alphabet by 287.9% during the 4th quarter. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 225 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Benchmark restated a “negative” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $209.13.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,340 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total transaction of $270,787.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 17,848 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,606,723.84. This trade represents a 6.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.80, for a total transaction of $284,700.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 21,824 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,142,195.20. This trade represents a 6.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 93,048 shares of company stock worth $17,374,274. 12.99% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ GOOG opened at $166.57 on Tuesday. 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 52 week low of $147.01 and a 52 week high of $208.70. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $186.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $178.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.03 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03.

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

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.48%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.94%.

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.