Palisade Asset Management LLC Acquires 735 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Palisade Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 10.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,946 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 735 shares during the period. Palisade Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,120,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Tandem Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Equitec Proprietary Markets LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Buck Wealth Strategies LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Barometer Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,000. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GOOG traded up $3.15 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $172.98. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 21,087,028 shares, compared to its average volume of 22,735,842. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $105.79 and a 12-month high of $176.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 2.15 and a quick ratio of 2.15. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $152.74 and a 200-day moving average price of $144.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.14 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.53, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.02.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.17 earnings per share. Alphabet’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a — dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 10th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 10th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.80, for a total transaction of $3,753,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,280,511 shares in the company, valued at $380,389,234.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 22,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.80, for a total value of $3,753,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,280,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $380,389,234.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 28,602 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,903,886.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 275,129 shares of company stock worth $40,382,765 over the last 90 days. 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.