Zhang Financial LLC Acquires 2,360 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Zhang Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 30.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,992 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,360 shares during the period. Zhang Financial LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,408,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of GOOG. Veracity Capital LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 12.4% in the 4th quarter. Veracity Capital LLC now owns 10,597 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,493,000 after buying an additional 1,173 shares during the last quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 25.3% during the 4th quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 6,093 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $859,000 after purchasing an additional 1,230 shares during the last quarter. Washington Trust Bank increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 33.0% during the 3rd quarter. Washington Trust Bank now owns 7,359 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $970,000 after purchasing an additional 1,826 shares during the last quarter. CNB Bank increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter. CNB Bank now owns 27,723 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,655,000 after purchasing an additional 1,710 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sloy Dahl & Holst LLC increased its position in shares of 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 last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Alphabet Price Performance

GOOG opened at $155.72 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 2.10 and a current ratio of 2.10. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $103.27 and a 52-week high of $161.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.94 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.05. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $147.46 and its 200-day moving average price is $141.93.

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

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.29, for a total transaction of $3,291,525.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,377,691 shares in the company, valued at $347,832,416.39. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.29, for a total value of $3,291,525.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,377,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $347,832,416.39. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Frances Arnold sold 230 shares of the business’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 sale, the director now directly owns 15,104 shares in the company, valued at $2,326,922.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 251,339 shares of company stock worth $36,377,482 over the last ninety days. 12.99% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Raymond James lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Alphabet from $172.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Alphabet from $154.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $165.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Susquehanna boosted their target price on Alphabet from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $159.86.

Alphabet 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.