Princeton Capital Management LLC Raises Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Princeton Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 1.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,917 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 206 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises about 1.0% of Princeton Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest position. Princeton Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $3,222,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Alphabet by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 11,024,276 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,843,149,000 after acquiring an additional 264,962 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 7.2% in the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 13,526 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,261,000 after purchasing an additional 909 shares during the last quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 1.2% during the third quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC now owns 12,240 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,046,000 after buying an additional 147 shares during the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP grew its holdings in Alphabet by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 70,572 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $11,799,000 after buying an additional 1,580 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd increased its stake in Alphabet by 62.0% in the 3rd quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 157,622 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $26,351,000 after acquiring an additional 60,325 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the company’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 sale, the director now directly owns 7,813 shares in the company, valued at $1,293,285.89. This represents a 2.50 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total value of $3,239,868.40. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 43,981 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,471,620.22. The trade was a 27.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 93,048 shares of company stock worth $17,374,274 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $169.93 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $183.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $178.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $148.20 and a one year high of $208.70. The firm has a market cap of $2.07 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.94%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on GOOG. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently 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.