Fortem Financial Group LLC Purchases 2,035 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Fortem Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 11.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 19,115 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,035 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for approximately 1.4% of Fortem Financial Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest position. Fortem Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $3,619,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. LMR Partners LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Kings Path Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the second quarter worth $36,000. Denver PWM LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the second quarter valued at $41,000. Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 2nd quarter valued at $53,000. Finally, Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth $66,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on GOOGL. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $210.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Phillip Securities raised shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $212.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Scotiabank raised shares of Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $206.82.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 30th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $8,471,620.22. This trade represents a 27.66 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,368 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.55, for a total transaction of $262,040.40. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 20,681 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,961,445.55. This trade represents a 6.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 155,887 shares of company stock valued at $27,996,356. Insiders own 11.55% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Up 2.2 %

Shares of GOOGL stock traded up $4.31 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $196.10. 19,568,181 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 19,324,756. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $180.24 and its 200-day moving average price is $172.46. The company has a market cap of $2.40 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a quick ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $130.66 and a 12 month high of $201.42.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $72.85 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.55 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th were issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.61%.

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.