Augustine Asset Management Inc. Purchases 4,823 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Augustine Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 90.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,181 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,823 shares during the quarter. Augustine Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,939,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in GOOG. Weiss Asset Management LP bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. boosted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC boosted 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 purchasing an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Down 0.5 %

Alphabet stock opened at $186.87 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $131.55 and a 1-year high of $208.70. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $194.16 and a 200 day simple moving average of $176.54. The company has a market cap of $2.29 trillion, a P/E ratio of 23.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.00.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. Research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is presently 9.94%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,340 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total value of $270,787.20. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 17,848 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,606,723.84. This represents a 6.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.22, for a total transaction of $291,330.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 23,324 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,529,987.28. This trade represents a 6.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 89,529 shares of company stock valued at $16,600,078. 12.99% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on GOOG shares. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $182.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Alphabet from $208.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $209.13.

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.