Sigma Investment Counselors Inc. Purchases 1,012 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Sigma Investment Counselors Inc. grew its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 14.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 8,203 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,012 shares during the quarter. Sigma Investment Counselors Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,562,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Sterling Financial Planning Inc. grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Financial Planning Inc. now owns 1,941 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $370,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 14,423 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,747,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Harrell Investment Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Harrell Investment Partners LLC now owns 5,659 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,078,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 5,073 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $966,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tempus Wealth Planning LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Tempus Wealth Planning LLC now owns 3,337 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $636,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on GOOG. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $182.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. One equities research 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 MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $209.13.

Alphabet Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ GOOG opened at $174.70 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.13 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.70, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.00. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $192.98 and a 200 day moving average price of $177.64. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $131.55 and a 52-week high of $208.70.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. Sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.22, for a total value of $291,330.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 23,324 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,529,987.28. The trade was a 6.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.41, for a total value of $232,950.47. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 23,515 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

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.