Conscious Wealth Investments LLC Increases Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Conscious Wealth Investments LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 0.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 19,255 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises 2.6% of Conscious Wealth Investments LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest position. Conscious Wealth Investments LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $3,803,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of GOOG. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 8,980 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,710,000 after acquiring an additional 108 shares during the period. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at about $59,000. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,017 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $575,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Colonial River Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. Colonial River Investments LLC now owns 2,621 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $499,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares during the period. Finally, Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Alphabet by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,880 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $548,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Down 1.5 %

NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $174.70 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84. The company has a market capitalization of $2.13 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.00. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $131.55 and a one year high of $208.70. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $192.98 and a 200 day simple moving average of $177.64.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 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%. Sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.46%. Alphabet’s payout ratio is 9.94%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 37,134 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.02, for a total transaction of $6,870,532.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 282,832 shares in the company, valued at $52,329,576.64. This represents a 11.61 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.41, for a total value of $232,950.47. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 23,515 shares in the company, valued at $4,007,191.15. The trade was a 5.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 134,299 shares of company stock valued at $25,055,751. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on GOOG shares. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “negative” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Alphabet from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Citigroup upped their target price on Alphabet from $212.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group raised their target price on Alphabet from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.