Ballast Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Ballast Inc. boosted its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 5.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,080 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. Ballast Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $575,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. DC Investments Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 1st quarter worth approximately $115,000. Guardian Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 1st quarter worth approximately $184,000. Turim 21 Investimentos Ltda. boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 10.8% during the 1st quarter. Turim 21 Investimentos Ltda. now owns 82 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $229,000 after purchasing an additional 8 shares during the last quarter. qPULA Trading Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 1st quarter worth approximately $279,000. Finally, Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 29.2% during the 1st quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd now owns 115 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $321,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on GOOG shares. Raymond James boosted their target price on Alphabet from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Susquehanna upped their price objective on Alphabet from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $146.33.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, CFO Ruth Porat sold 48,077 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.22, for a total transaction of $6,597,125.94. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 1,777,106 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $243,854,485.32. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 48,076 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.20, for a total value of $6,836,407.20. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 12,725 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,809,495. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Ruth Porat sold 48,077 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.22, for a total value of $6,597,125.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 1,777,106 shares in the company, valued at approximately $243,854,485.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 251,138 shares of company stock valued at $35,427,655. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.2 %

NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $152.26 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.10, a current ratio of 2.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $144.75 and its two-hundred day moving average is $139.39. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $100.29 and a 52 week high of $155.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.89 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The information services provider reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. Alphabet had a return on equity of 27.22% and a net margin of 24.01%. The business had revenue of $86.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $85.28 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.05 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 13.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 6.77 EPS for the current year.

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.