tru Independence LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

tru Independence LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 5.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,735 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 141 shares during the period. tru Independence LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $521,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Weiss Asset Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the third quarter worth about $25,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in Alphabet during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 87.3% in the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. now owns 251 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 117 shares during the period. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 32.3% in the 3rd quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 344 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $57,000 after buying an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $76,000. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on GOOG. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday. Phillip Securities raised shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Pivotal Research boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $212.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group upped their target price on Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $206.69.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOG opened at $202.63 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $2.48 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.99. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $189.03 and a 200-day moving average price of $175.35. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $131.55 and a 1 year high of $203.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.95.

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

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total value of $3,239,868.40. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 43,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,471,620.22. This trade represents a 27.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 441 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.06, for a total value of $75,437.46. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 16,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,820,779.40. The trade was a 2.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 121,630 shares of company stock valued at $22,258,133. 12.99% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.