Valmark Advisers Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Valmark Advisers Inc. grew its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 2.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 34,479 shares of the information services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 889 shares during the quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc.’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $4,859,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in GOOG. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 4,348,188 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 9,703,425 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.3% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 57,269,184 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $7,550,942,000 after purchasing an additional 1,275,060 shares in the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.3% during the third quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 27,744,572 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,658,122,000 after purchasing an additional 92,741 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.0% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 19,822,203 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,613,557,000 after purchasing an additional 390,118 shares in the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Trading Up 10.0 %

Shares of Alphabet stock traded up $15.74 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $173.69. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 56,500,787 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,324,858. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $104.42 and a twelve month high of $176.42. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $149.12 and a 200-day moving average of $142.77. The stock has a market cap of $2.16 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 2.10 and a current ratio of 2.10.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.49 by $0.40. Alphabet had a return on equity of 30.01% and a net margin of 25.90%. The business had revenue of $80.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $78.75 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.17 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 6.8 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 2,100 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.76, for a total transaction of $369,096.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 5,891 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,035,402.16. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Frances Arnold sold 230 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.06, for a total transaction of $35,433.80. Following the transaction, the director now owns 15,104 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,326,922.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 2,100 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.76, for a total value of $369,096.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,891 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,035,402.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 253,439 shares of company stock valued at $36,746,578. Corporate insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Alphabet 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.