Wescott Financial Advisory Group LLC Increases Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Wescott Financial Advisory Group LLC increased its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 31.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,430 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 587 shares during the period. Wescott Financial Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $463,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Conquis Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at about $114,000. Resolute Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $688,000. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC now owns 11,787 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,245,000 after acquiring an additional 154 shares during the period. Proem Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $15,235,000. Finally, Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 291.4% in the 4th quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 36,282 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $6,910,000 after purchasing an additional 27,012 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GOOG has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Scotiabank increased their target price on Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a “neutral” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Westpark Capital assumed coverage on shares of Alphabet in a report on Tuesday. They set a “buy” rating and a $210.00 price target for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $208.65.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 673 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.33, for a total transaction of $104,537.09. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 15,303 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,377,014.99. The trade was a 4.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.80, for a total value of $284,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 21,824 shares of the company’s stock, 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 have sold 87,297 shares of company stock worth $15,936,270 over the last three months. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Trading Down 3.9 %

NASDAQ GOOG opened at $152.63 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $148.20 and a 52 week high of $208.70. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $178.12 and a two-hundred day moving average of $178.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.86 trillion, a PE ratio of 18.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its earnings results 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 return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. As a group, research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.94%.

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.