Sovereign Investment Advisors LLC Takes Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Sovereign Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 7,113 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,355,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of GOOG. Swedbank AB increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.6% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 8,338,900 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,394,181,000 after buying an additional 51,226 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.5% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 11,024,276 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,843,149,000 after purchasing an additional 264,962 shares during the last quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 48.4% in the third quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC now owns 9,194 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,537,000 after purchasing an additional 3,000 shares during the last quarter. Evolution Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.3% in the third quarter. Evolution Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 57,865 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $9,673,000 after purchasing an additional 760 shares during the last quarter. Finally, RIA Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter worth approximately $323,000. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total transaction of $33,106.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,813 shares in the company, valued at $1,293,285.89. This trade represents a 2.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,834 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.55, for a total value of $559,856.70. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 20,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,085,531.55. The trade was a 12.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 95,882 shares of company stock valued at $17,934,130. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOG stock opened at $167.62 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $187.41 and a 200 day moving average of $178.00. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $141.13 and a 52 week high of $208.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.04 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.82, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. 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 (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. As a group, research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current 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 dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.94%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” 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. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Citizens Jmp cut shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.