Asset Planning Inc Takes $1.05 Million Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Asset Planning Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 5,490 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,045,000. Alphabet comprises approximately 0.8% of Asset Planning Inc’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest position.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. FMR LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 5.2% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 114,802,133 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $19,193,768,000 after buying an additional 5,655,022 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 0.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 103,557,486 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $17,247,208,000 after buying an additional 259,213 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 10.3% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 33,334,082 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $5,573,125,000 after buying an additional 3,113,395 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 9.1% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 15,424,324 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,578,793,000 after purchasing an additional 1,291,274 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased 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 purchasing an additional 264,962 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GOOG has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup upped their price target on Alphabet from $212.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Citizens Jmp downgraded Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Phillip Securities raised Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Alphabet from $182.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $209.13.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.41, for a total value of $232,950.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 23,515 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,007,191.15. This represents a 5.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 37,134 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.02, for a total transaction of $6,870,532.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 282,832 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $52,329,576.64. This trade represents a 11.61 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 89,529 shares of company stock worth $16,600,078. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $186.87 on Tuesday. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $131.55 and a one year high of $208.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a current ratio of 1.84. The firm has a market cap of $2.29 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.21, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.00. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $194.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $176.71.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. Research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.43%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.94%.

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.