Ethos Financial Group LLC Increases Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Ethos Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 39.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 7,705 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,167 shares during the period. Ethos Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,086,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Tandem Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Equitec Proprietary Markets LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Buck Wealth Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Barometer Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,000. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.08, for a total transaction of $3,219,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,355,191 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $336,980,728.28. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CFO Ruth Porat sold 48,077 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 1,777,106 shares in the company, valued at $243,854,485.32. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.08, for a total value of $3,219,300.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,355,191 shares in the company, valued at $336,980,728.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 252,629 shares of company stock valued at $37,091,240. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Raymond James increased their target price on shares of 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 target price on shares of Alphabet from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $172.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $154.00 to $174.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $165.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $165.67.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.2 %

NASDAQ:GOOG traded up $0.42 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $171.58. The stock had a trading volume of 11,914,729 shares, compared to its average volume of 22,523,879. The company has a current ratio of 2.15, a quick ratio of 2.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $108.48 and a 1-year high of $176.42. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $153.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $144.40. The company has a market cap of $2.12 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.02.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.38. Alphabet had a net margin of 25.90% and a return on equity of 29.52%. The business had revenue of $80.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $78.75 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.17 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.66 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a — dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 10th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 10th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 12.27%.

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.