US Asset Management LLC Acquires Shares of 9,090 Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

US Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 9,090 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,281,000. Alphabet comprises 1.3% of US Asset Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest holding.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 11.3% in 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 purchasing an additional 9,703,425 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth $11,600,970,000. FMR LLC increased 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 valued at $15,852,868,000 after acquiring an additional 4,348,188 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC increased 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 valued at $547,215,000 after acquiring an additional 2,583,128 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased 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 valued at $647,064,000 after acquiring an additional 2,222,950 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Alphabet from $154.00 to $174.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $165.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Susquehanna boosted their price target on Alphabet from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Raymond James boosted their price target on Alphabet from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Alphabet from $172.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, Alphabet has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $165.67.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.49, for a total value of $93,086.18. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 28,602 shares in the company, valued at $3,903,886.98. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.49, for a total transaction of $93,086.18. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 28,602 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,903,886.98. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.51, for a total value of $41,853.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 9,291 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,296,187.41. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 252,629 shares of company stock worth $37,091,240. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Price Performance

Alphabet stock traded down $2.29 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $169.29. 7,199,543 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 22,353,377. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $154.05 and its 200-day moving average is $144.59. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $114.93 and a 12 month high of $176.42. The stock has a market cap of $2.09 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.04, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a quick ratio of 2.15, a current ratio of 2.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.38. Alphabet had a return on equity of 29.52% and a net margin of 25.90%. The business had revenue of $80.54 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $78.75 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.17 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.66 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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

Alphabet Company Profile

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.