Saturna Capital Corp Buys Shares of 1,436 Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Saturna Capital Corp purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 1,436 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $273,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in GOOG. Swedbank AB grew its position in Alphabet by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 8,338,900 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,394,181,000 after purchasing an additional 51,226 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 264,962 shares during the period. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the third quarter worth approximately $1,208,000. Peregrine Asset Advisers Inc. grew its holdings in Alphabet by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Peregrine Asset Advisers Inc. now owns 11,566 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,934,000 after buying an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jag Capital Management LLC increased its position in Alphabet by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Jag Capital Management LLC now owns 35,292 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $5,901,000 after acquiring an additional 542 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total value of $3,239,868.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 43,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,471,620.22. This represents a 27.66 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,340 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total value of $270,787.20. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 17,848 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,606,723.84. This trade represents a 6.98 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 97,182 shares of company stock valued at $18,192,354. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $165.98 on Wednesday. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $138.21 and a 12-month high of $208.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.02 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $188.87 and its 200-day moving average is $178.08.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. Equities analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company 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 0.48%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is 9.94%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on GOOG shares. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Citizens Jmp downgraded shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “negative” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated 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 issued a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $209.13.

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.