Define Financial LLC Takes $249,000 Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Define Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 1,307 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $249,000. Alphabet comprises approximately 0.2% of Define Financial LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest position.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 114,802,133 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $19,193,768,000 after buying an additional 5,655,022 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings 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 valued at $5,573,125,000 after acquiring an additional 3,113,395 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in Alphabet by 65.9% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 6,294,332 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,052,349,000 after purchasing an additional 2,500,621 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 27.8% during the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 7,499,245 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,375,512,000 after purchasing an additional 1,632,691 shares during the period. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 182.1% during the 3rd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 2,526,055 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $422,331,000 after purchasing an additional 1,630,701 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Up 3.1 %

Shares of GOOG stock opened at $196.98 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.41 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.99. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $131.55 and a 12-month high of $202.88. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $184.95 and its 200-day moving average price is $174.55.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. The business had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $86.39 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. The company’s revenue was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.55 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.41%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 10.61%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.42, for a total value of $234,331.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 26,349 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,516,745.58. This trade represents a 4.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.80, for a total value of $284,700.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 21,824 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,142,195.20. This trade represents a 6.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 133,387 shares of company stock valued at $24,368,654 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GOOG has been the topic of a number of research reports. Phillip Securities raised shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Citizens Jmp lowered Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Scotiabank initiated coverage on Alphabet in a research report on Friday, October 11th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $212.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Alphabet from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $212.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $200.56.

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.