PDS Planning Inc Raises Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

PDS Planning Inc increased its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 10.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 34,948 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,447 shares during the quarter. PDS Planning Inc’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $6,656,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. now owns 15,977 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,043,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Mystic Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Mystic Asset Management Inc. now owns 19,979 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,805,000 after purchasing an additional 536 shares in the last quarter. RD Lewis Holdings Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,287,000. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 120,789 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $22,274,000 after purchasing an additional 1,157 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth approximately $526,000. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total transaction of $3,239,868.40. Following the sale, the insider now owns 43,981 shares in the company, valued at $8,471,620.22. This represents a 27.66 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,340 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total value of $270,787.20. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 17,848 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,606,723.84. This trade represents a 6.98 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 93,048 shares of company stock valued at $17,374,274. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on GOOG. Benchmark reiterated a “negative” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Citizens Jmp lowered Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $209.13.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOG opened at $166.57 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $186.78 and its 200 day moving average price is $178.12. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $147.01 and a 12-month high of $208.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The firm has a market cap of $2.03 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.69, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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, sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 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.