Auxano Advisors LLC Boosts Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Auxano Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 0.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,823 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the period. Auxano Advisors LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,680,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Weiss Asset Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at about $43,000. Finally, FPC Investment Advisory Inc. raised its holdings in Alphabet by 287.9% in the 4th quarter. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 225 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 37,134 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.02, for a total value of $6,870,532.68. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 282,832 shares in the company, valued at approximately $52,329,576.64. This trade represents a 11.61 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,374 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.47, for a total transaction of $238,347.78. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 15,024 shares in the company, valued at $2,606,213.28. The trade was a 8.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 134,316 shares of company stock valued at $25,062,887 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GOOG has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Benchmark restated a “negative” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $209.13.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOG stock opened at $174.99 on Thursday. 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 Inc. has a 52 week low of $131.95 and a 52 week high of $208.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.13 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.00. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $190.68 and a two-hundred day moving average of $177.91.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued 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 net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. On average, research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.46%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.94%.

Alphabet Company 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.