Safeguard Financial LLC Buys New Shares in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Safeguard Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 1,620 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $226,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Meritage Group LP increased its position in Alphabet by 1,061.5% during the third quarter. Meritage Group LP now owns 302 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 276 shares during the last quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 165.8% during the 3rd quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC now owns 319 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 199 shares during the last quarter. Armor Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 31.0% in the 4th quarter. Armor Investment Advisors LLC now owns 338 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the period. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth $55,000. Finally, LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 301.5% in the fourth quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA now owns 522 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $73,000 after purchasing an additional 392 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 660 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.59, for a total value of $94,769.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 27,920 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,009,032.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.56, for a total value of $127,648.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 7,991 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,275,043.96. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 660 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.59, for a total transaction of $94,769.40. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,920 shares in the company, valued at $4,009,032.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 251,339 shares of company stock worth $36,377,482. 0.88% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.5 %

GOOGL stock opened at $159.13 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $146.96 and its 200-day moving average is $141.06. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $102.63 and a twelve month high of $160.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.98 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a quick ratio of 2.10, a current ratio of 2.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The information services provider reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. Alphabet had a net margin of 24.01% and a return on equity of 27.22%. The firm had revenue of $86.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $70.77 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.05 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 6.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $144.00 to $141.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating and issued a $168.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $175.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Rosenblatt Securities lowered their price target on shares of Alphabet from $174.00 to $172.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $180.00 to $173.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $158.71.

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.