Sage Private Wealth Group LLC Acquires 216 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Sage Private Wealth Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 6.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 3,708 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 216 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up approximately 0.5% of Sage Private Wealth Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest position. Sage Private Wealth Group LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $702,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Bennett Selby Investments LP boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Bennett Selby Investments LP now owns 1,354 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $256,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the period. Conrad Siegel Investment Advisors Inc. raised its position in Alphabet by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Conrad Siegel Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 9,845 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,864,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 2,381 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $457,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the period. Denver PWM LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 25.4% in the 3rd quarter. Denver PWM LLC now owns 281 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ignite Planners LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Ignite Planners LLC now owns 15,078 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,892,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Down 2.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL opened at $179.66 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $130.66 and a 1-year high of $207.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84. The business’s 50 day moving average is $192.46 and its two-hundred day moving average is $175.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.19 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.32, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.99.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid 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 0.45%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.94%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on GOOGL. Citigroup dropped their price target on Alphabet from $232.00 to $229.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Alphabet from $215.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn raised Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $210.62.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, insider Ruth Porat sold 17,690 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.48, for a total transaction of $3,245,761.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 1,449,286 shares in the company, valued at $265,914,995.28. The trade was a 1.21 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.41, for a total value of $232,950.47. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 23,515 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,007,191.15. The trade was a 5.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 134,299 shares of company stock worth $25,055,751. Insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

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.