Lafayette Investments Inc. Has $9.86 Million Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Lafayette Investments Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 0.9% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 69,992 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 615 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for 2.5% of Lafayette Investments Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest position. Lafayette Investments Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $9,864,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Veracity Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 12.4% in the 4th quarter. Veracity Capital LLC now owns 10,597 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,493,000 after buying an additional 1,173 shares during the period. Independence Bank of Kentucky raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 25.3% in the fourth quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 6,093 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $859,000 after acquiring an additional 1,230 shares in the last quarter. Washington Trust Bank lifted its stake in Alphabet by 33.0% in the third quarter. Washington Trust Bank now owns 7,359 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $970,000 after acquiring an additional 1,826 shares during the period. CNB Bank grew its holdings in Alphabet by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter. CNB Bank now owns 27,723 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,655,000 after acquiring an additional 1,710 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sloy Dahl & Holst LLC increased its position in Alphabet by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Sloy Dahl & Holst LLC now owns 8,238 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,086,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $155.72 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $103.27 and a 1 year high of $161.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 2.10 and a quick ratio of 2.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.94 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.05. The business’s 50-day moving average is $147.46 and its 200 day moving average is $141.93.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The information services provider reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. Alphabet had a net margin of 24.01% and a return on equity of 27.22%. The company had revenue of $86.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $85.28 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.05 EPS. Alphabet’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 6.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Frances Arnold sold 230 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.06, for a total value of $35,433.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 15,104 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,326,922.24. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Frances Arnold sold 230 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.06, for a total value of $35,433.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 15,104 shares in the company, valued at $2,326,922.24. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Ruth Porat sold 48,077 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.22, for a total value of $6,597,125.94. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 1,777,106 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $243,854,485.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 251,339 shares of company stock valued at $36,377,482 over the last ninety days. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on GOOG. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $172.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Alphabet from $154.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Raymond James raised their price objective on Alphabet from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Susquehanna boosted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $165.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $159.86.

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.