Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) is Optas LLC’s 5th Largest Position

Optas LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 0.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 99,990 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up approximately 4.1% of Optas LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Optas LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $19,042,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Weiss Asset Management LP purchased a new position in Alphabet during the third quarter worth $25,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth about $33,000. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. raised its stake in Alphabet by 87.3% in the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. now owns 251 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 32.3% in the 3rd quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 344 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on GOOG. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Phillip Securities raised Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Alphabet from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price target on Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $209.13.

Alphabet Stock Down 3.2 %

Shares of Alphabet stock opened at $187.14 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $131.55 and a twelve month high of $208.70. The stock has a market cap of $2.29 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $192.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $176.15.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. Equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.43%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.61%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.80, for a total transaction of $284,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 21,824 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,142,195.20. This represents a 6.43 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,340 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total transaction of $270,787.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 17,848 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,606,723.84. This trade represents a 6.98 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 89,529 shares of company stock valued at $16,600,078. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

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.