Gotham Asset Management LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Gotham Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 2.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 54,455 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,470 shares during the period. Gotham Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $10,370,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. purchased a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth $39,000. Finally, Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth $43,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Down 0.9%

GOOG stock opened at $154.38 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $160.96 and its 200-day simple moving average is $177.02. The company has a market capitalization of $1.87 trillion, a P/E ratio of 19.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $142.66 and a 12 month high of $208.70.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. The firm had revenue of $90.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.30 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.89 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. This is an increase from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.54%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.36%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GOOG has been the topic of several analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $171.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, April 25th. Rosenblatt Securities upgraded Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Susquehanna restated a “positive” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a “sell” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and five have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $203.94.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.90, for a total transaction of $5,066,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,652,696 shares in the company, valued at approximately $413,555,306.40. This represents a 1.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 2,824 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $187.43, for a total value of $529,302.32. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 15,024 shares in the company, valued at $2,815,948.32. This represents a 15.82% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 179,324 shares of company stock valued at $30,153,353. 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.