Occidental Asset Management LLC Purchases 17,381 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Occidental Asset Management LLC raised its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 89.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 36,856 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 17,381 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for about 1.1% of Occidental Asset Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. Occidental Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $7,019,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Weiss Asset Management LP acquired a new position in Alphabet in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 9,200.0% in the second quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 186 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares during the period. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth $33,000. HWG Holdings LP acquired a new position in Alphabet during the 2nd quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 87.3% in the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. now owns 251 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOG has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Phillip Securities raised Alphabet to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $182.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Alphabet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Citizens Jmp lowered shares of Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Pivotal Research increased their price target on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $200.56.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director Frances Arnold sold 441 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.06, for a total value of $75,437.46. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 16,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,820,779.40. This represents a 2.60 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 1,367 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.41, for a total transaction of $232,950.47. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 23,515 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,007,191.15. This represents a 5.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 133,387 shares of company stock valued at $24,368,654 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOG stock opened at $197.55 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $185.92 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $174.93. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $131.55 and a 12 month high of $202.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.42 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 0.99.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. The company had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $86.39 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.55 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th were issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.40%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 10.61%.

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.