Oxbow Advisors LLC Raises Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Oxbow Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 7.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 145,205 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,624 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for approximately 3.3% of Oxbow Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Oxbow Advisors LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $27,653,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Sterling Financial Planning Inc. lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Financial Planning Inc. now owns 1,941 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $370,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 14,423 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,747,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Harrell Investment Partners LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Harrell Investment Partners LLC now owns 5,659 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,078,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the period. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Tempus Wealth Planning LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Tempus Wealth Planning LLC now owns 3,337 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $636,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

Alphabet stock opened at $177.37 on Wednesday. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $131.55 and a 52-week high of $208.70. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $193.29 and its 200 day moving average is $177.66. The company has a market cap of $2.16 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.03, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.00.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (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%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business 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 dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.45%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.94%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 37,134 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.02, for a total transaction of $6,870,532.68. Following the sale, the director now owns 282,832 shares in the company, valued at approximately $52,329,576.64. This represents a 11.61 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.41, for a total transaction of $232,950.47. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 23,515 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,007,191.15. The trade was a 5.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 134,299 shares of company stock valued at $25,055,751 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Pivotal Research upped their price objective on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Alphabet from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $209.13.

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.