Riverstone Advisors LLC Takes $234,000 Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Riverstone Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 1,660 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $234,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Veracity Capital LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 12.4% during the 4th quarter. Veracity Capital LLC now owns 10,597 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,493,000 after buying an additional 1,173 shares during the period. Independence Bank of Kentucky grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 25.3% in the fourth quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 6,093 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $859,000 after purchasing an additional 1,230 shares during the last quarter. Washington Trust Bank increased its holdings in Alphabet by 33.0% in the third quarter. Washington Trust Bank now owns 7,359 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $970,000 after purchasing an additional 1,826 shares during the period. CNB Bank raised its position in Alphabet by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter. CNB Bank now owns 27,723 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $3,655,000 after purchasing an additional 1,710 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sloy Dahl & Holst LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Sloy Dahl & Holst LLC now owns 8,238 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,086,000 after buying an additional 155 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ GOOG opened at $157.46 on Friday. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $103.27 and a 12-month high of $161.70. The company has a quick ratio of 2.10, a current ratio of 2.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The firm has a market cap of $1.96 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.05. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $147.35 and its 200 day simple moving average is $141.72.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The information services provider reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. Alphabet had a net margin of 24.01% and a return on equity of 27.22%. The company had revenue of $86.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $85.28 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.05 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 13.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 6.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, Director Frances Arnold sold 230 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 15,104 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,326,922.24. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Director Frances Arnold sold 230 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.06, for a total transaction of $35,433.80. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 15,104 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,326,922.24. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.56, for a total transaction of $127,648.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 7,991 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,275,043.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 251,339 shares of company stock valued at $36,377,482. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on GOOG. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Alphabet from $154.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Susquehanna boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $165.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Oppenheimer boosted 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. Finally, Raymond James increased their price target on Alphabet from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $159.86.

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.