World Equity Group Inc. Increases Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

World Equity Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 5.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 8,769 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 484 shares during the period. World Equity Group Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,670,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Weiss Asset Management LP purchased a new position in Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new position in Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. boosted its position in Alphabet by 87.3% in the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. now owns 251 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FPC Investment Advisory Inc. boosted its position 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 buying an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GOOG has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Citizens Jmp cut shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $212.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $209.13.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 43,981 shares in the company, valued at $8,471,620.22. This trade represents a 27.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.41, for a total transaction of $232,950.47. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 23,515 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 worth $25,055,751 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $174.70 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $192.98 and its two-hundred day moving average is $177.64. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $131.55 and a 52 week high of $208.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.13 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.70, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced 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%. Analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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