Capital Market Strategies LLC Buys 314 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Capital Market Strategies LLC raised its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 3.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 8,624 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 314 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for approximately 0.9% of Capital Market Strategies LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. Capital Market Strategies LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,642,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Sunburst Financial Group LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Sunburst Financial Group LLC now owns 2,959 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $495,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Johnson Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 2.6% during the third quarter. Johnson Financial Group LLC now owns 2,360 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $395,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Phillips Financial Management LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 1.6% in the third quarter. Phillips Financial Management LLC now owns 3,852 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $644,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Goodman Advisory Group LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Goodman Advisory Group LLC now owns 2,674 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $447,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hutchinson Capital Management CA lifted its position in Alphabet by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Hutchinson Capital Management CA now owns 3,492 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $641,000 after buying an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Alphabet from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Alphabet from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Pivotal Research raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $187.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $200.56.

Alphabet Price Performance

NASDAQ:GOOG traded up $5.62 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $198.75. 8,044,838 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 12,762,802. The business has a 50 day moving average of $181.77 and a 200 day moving average of $173.97. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $131.55 and a 1-year high of $202.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.95. The company has a market capitalization of $2.43 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.99.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. The firm had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $86.39 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.55 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.02 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 10.61%.

Insider Activity

In other Alphabet news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 37,134 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.02, for a total value of $6,870,532.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 282,832 shares in the company, valued at approximately $52,329,576.64. This represents a 11.61 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.30, for a total value of $3,741,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,106,806 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $350,361,837.80. The trade was a 1.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 155,887 shares of company stock worth $27,996,356. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

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.