Flaharty Asset Management LLC Raises Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Flaharty Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 18.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,158 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 498 shares during the quarter. Flaharty Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $445,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Veracity Capital LLC boosted 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 worth $1,493,000 after purchasing an additional 1,173 shares during the last quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 25.3% in the 4th quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 6,093 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $859,000 after buying an additional 1,230 shares during the last quarter. Washington Trust Bank increased its position in Alphabet by 33.0% during the third quarter. Washington Trust Bank now owns 7,359 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $970,000 after acquiring an additional 1,826 shares during the last quarter. CNB Bank lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 6.6% in the third quarter. CNB Bank now owns 27,723 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,655,000 after acquiring an additional 1,710 shares during the period. Finally, Sloy Dahl & Holst LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 1.9% in 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 last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 2,100 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.76, for a total transaction of $369,096.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 5,891 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,035,402.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 2,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.76, for a total value of $369,096.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 5,891 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,035,402.16. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.56, for a total value of $127,648.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 7,991 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,275,043.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 253,209 shares of company stock valued at $36,711,144. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG opened at $167.90 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $149.64 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $142.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 2.15 and a quick ratio of 2.10. The company has a market capitalization of $2.09 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.75, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.05. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $104.50 and a 1-year high of $176.42.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.38. The company had revenue of $80.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $78.75 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 25.90% and a return on equity of 29.52%. Alphabet’s quarterly revenue was up 15.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.17 EPS. Research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 6.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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

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.