Garrison Asset Management LLC Buys 1,030 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Garrison Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 5.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 20,042 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,030 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for about 1.6% of Garrison Asset Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. Garrison Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $2,825,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position 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 acquiring an additional 9,703,425 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth $11,600,970,000. FMR LLC raised 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 worth $15,852,868,000 after acquiring an additional 4,348,188 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 198.7% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 3,882,882 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $547,215,000 after acquiring an additional 2,583,128 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in Alphabet by 93.9% during 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 acquiring an additional 2,222,950 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $165.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $172.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Susquehanna upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $154.00 to $174.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $159.86.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the 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 sale, the chief executive officer now 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 the SEC website. In other news, SVP Prabhakar Raghavan sold 3,258 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.97, for a total transaction of $508,150.26. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 144,685 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,566,519.45. 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 that occurred on Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $157.41, for a total transaction of $3,541,725.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,303,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $362,516,961.51. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 251,339 shares of company stock valued at $36,377,482. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Stock Up 1.2 %

GOOG stock opened at $159.92 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.99 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 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 50-day moving average price of $147.92 and a 200-day moving average price of $142.27.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The information services provider reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $86.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $85.28 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 24.01% and a return on equity of 27.22%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.05 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 6.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.