Ashton Thomas Securities LLC Grows Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Ashton Thomas Securities LLC lifted its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 29.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 17,176 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,887 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for 0.9% of Ashton Thomas Securities LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest position. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $3,270,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 5.2% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 114,802,133 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $19,193,768,000 after purchasing an additional 5,655,022 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 103,557,486 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $17,247,208,000 after buying an additional 259,213 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 10.3% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 33,334,082 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $5,573,125,000 after acquiring an additional 3,113,395 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Alphabet by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 30,824,307 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $5,870,181,000 after acquiring an additional 875,480 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Alphabet by 2.5% during 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 acquiring an additional 264,962 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GOOG has been the subject of a number of research reports. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Benchmark reiterated a “negative” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” 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 issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $209.13.

Alphabet Stock Performance

NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $169.93 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $183.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is $178.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.07 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.11, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $148.20 and a 1-year high of $208.70.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. Analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 9.94%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,340 shares of the company’s 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 sale, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $1,293,285.89. This represents a 2.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 93,048 shares of company stock worth $17,374,274 in the last three months. 12.99% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.