Verdence Capital Advisors LLC Purchases 958 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 1.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 58,993 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 958 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises 0.8% of Verdence Capital Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest position. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $8,314,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 11.3% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 95,941,129 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $12,649,838,000 after buying an additional 9,703,425 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth $11,600,970,000. FMR LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 3.8% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 120,234,117 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $15,852,868,000 after purchasing an additional 4,348,188 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 198.7% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 3,882,882 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $547,215,000 after purchasing an additional 2,583,128 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in Alphabet by 93.9% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 4,591,383 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $647,064,000 after purchasing an additional 2,222,950 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Trading Up 1.4 %

NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $157.95 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.96 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.23, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a current ratio of 2.10, a quick ratio of 2.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $103.27 and a 12 month high of $161.70. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $147.65 and a 200-day simple moving average of $142.12.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly 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. The company had revenue of $86.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $85.28 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 27.22% and a net margin of 24.01%. The firm’s revenue was up 13.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.05 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 6.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $157.41, for a total transaction of $3,541,725.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,303,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $362,516,961.51. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.56, for a total value of $127,648.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 7,991 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,275,043.96. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $157.41, for a total value of $3,541,725.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,303,011 shares in the company, valued at $362,516,961.51. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 251,339 shares of company stock valued at $36,377,482 over the last quarter. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOG has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $154.00 to $174.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $172.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Raymond James upped their price target on Alphabet from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Susquehanna increased 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $165.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $159.86.

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.