Apollon Financial LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Apollon Financial LLC boosted its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 3.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 66,306 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,163 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for about 3.1% of Apollon Financial LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 7th biggest position. Apollon Financial LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $12,627,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Harrell Investment Partners LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Harrell Investment Partners LLC now owns 5,659 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,078,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the period. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Alphabet by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 5,073 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $966,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the period. Tempus Wealth Planning LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Tempus Wealth Planning LLC now owns 3,337 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $636,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Investment Advisory Group LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Investment Advisory Group LLC now owns 7,684 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,463,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Finally, McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in Alphabet by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,275 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $243,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Down 0.6 %

GOOG opened at $187.07 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $193.42 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $176.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.29 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.24, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.95. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $131.55 and a one year high of $208.70.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its earnings results 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 return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. Analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.43%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.94%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on GOOG. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Alphabet from $182.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. UBS Group raised their price target on Alphabet from $187.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Pivotal Research raised their price target on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price target on Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Phillip Securities upgraded Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $209.13.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 37,134 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.02, for a total value of $6,870,532.68. Following the sale, the director now owns 282,832 shares in the company, valued at $52,329,576.64. This represents a 11.61 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,340 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total value of $270,787.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 17,848 shares in the company, valued at $3,606,723.84. The trade was a 6.98 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 89,529 shares of company stock worth $16,600,078. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

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.