Buffington Mohr McNeal Grows Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Buffington Mohr McNeal boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 1.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 24,307 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 455 shares during the period. Buffington Mohr McNeal’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $3,426,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of GOOG. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 61,587.1% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 130,046,253 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $11,539,004,000 after acquiring an additional 129,835,437 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 3.8% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 120,234,117 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $15,852,868,000 after purchasing an additional 4,348,188 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Alphabet by 11.3% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 95,941,129 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $12,649,838,000 after purchasing an additional 9,703,425 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 37.6% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 71,779,112 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $6,368,961,000 after buying an additional 19,612,974 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 57,269,184 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $7,550,942,000 after buying an additional 1,275,060 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.29, for a total value of $3,291,525.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,377,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $347,832,416.39. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, Director Frances Arnold sold 230 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.06, for a total value of $35,433.80. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 15,104 shares in the company, valued at $2,326,922.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.29, for a total transaction of $3,291,525.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,377,691 shares in the company, valued at $347,832,416.39. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 251,339 shares of company stock valued at $36,377,482. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on GOOG. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Alphabet from $172.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Alphabet from $154.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $165.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Susquehanna increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $159.86.

Alphabet Stock Performance

GOOG stock opened at $157.46 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $103.27 and a twelve month high of $161.70. The firm has a market cap of $1.96 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.15, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.05. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $147.35 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $141.72. The company has a quick ratio of 2.10, a current ratio of 2.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The information services provider reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $86.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $85.28 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 24.01% and a return on equity of 27.22%. The firm’s revenue was up 13.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.05 EPS. Analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 6.78 earnings per share for the current year.

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.