Pointe Capital Management LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Pointe Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 8.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 9,963 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 784 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for approximately 1.1% of Pointe Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 19th biggest position. Pointe Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,897,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Weiss Asset Management LP purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 87.3% in the third quarter. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. now owns 251 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the period. Finally, FPC Investment Advisory Inc. boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 287.9% in the fourth quarter. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 225 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.22, for a total value of $291,330.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 23,324 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,529,987.28. This represents a 6.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.41, for a total transaction of $232,950.47. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 23,515 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,007,191.15. This represents a 5.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 134,309 shares of company stock valued at $25,057,490. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Benchmark reiterated a “negative” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. One investment 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $209.13.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOG stock opened at $172.22 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $131.55 and a 52 week high of $208.70. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $192.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $177.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.10 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.00.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid 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 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.