Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Acquired by Financial Strategies Group Inc.

Financial Strategies Group Inc. increased its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 16.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 35,720 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 5,159 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises 1.5% of Financial Strategies Group Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest holding. Financial Strategies Group Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $5,371,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Veracity Capital LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 12.4% in the fourth quarter. Veracity Capital LLC now owns 10,597 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,493,000 after acquiring an additional 1,173 shares in the last quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 25.3% during the fourth quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 6,093 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $859,000 after purchasing an additional 1,230 shares during the period. Washington Trust Bank raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 33.0% during the third quarter. Washington Trust Bank now owns 7,359 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $970,000 after purchasing an additional 1,826 shares during the period. CNB Bank raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 6.6% during the third quarter. CNB Bank now owns 27,723 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,655,000 after purchasing an additional 1,710 shares during the period. Finally, Sloy Dahl & Holst LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.9% during the third quarter. Sloy Dahl & Holst LLC now owns 8,238 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,086,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOG opened at $157.46 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $103.27 and a one year high of $161.70. The company has a 50-day moving average of $147.35 and a two-hundred day moving average of $141.72. The stock has a market cap of $1.96 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.15, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 2.10 and a quick ratio of 2.10.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.70, for a total value of $2,985,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,332,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $309,548,095.70. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Director Frances Arnold sold 230 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $2,326,922.24. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.70, for a total transaction of $2,985,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,332,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $309,548,095.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 251,339 shares of company stock worth $36,377,482 over the last ninety days. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.