GQG Partners LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

GQG Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 181,679.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 7,225,721 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 7,221,746 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises approximately 2.0% of GQG Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. GQG Partners LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $1,376,066,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOG. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Alphabet by 2.5% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 11,024,276 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,843,149,000 after purchasing an additional 264,962 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 13,526 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,261,000 after buying an additional 909 shares during the period. Penserra Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC now owns 12,240 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,046,000 after buying an additional 147 shares during the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 70,572 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $11,799,000 after buying an additional 1,580 shares during the period. Finally, Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 62.0% in the third quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 157,622 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $26,351,000 after acquiring an additional 60,325 shares during the last quarter. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on GOOG shares. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Benchmark reissued a “negative” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $209.13.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total transaction of $3,239,868.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 43,981 shares in the company, valued at $8,471,620.22. The trade was a 27.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total transaction of $33,106.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 7,813 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,293,285.89. The trade was a 2.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 93,048 shares of company stock worth $17,374,274 over the last quarter. 12.99% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Alphabet stock opened at $169.93 on Tuesday. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $148.20 and a 52 week high of $208.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The stock has a market cap of $2.07 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $183.93 and a 200-day moving average of $178.30.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. On average, analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.94%.

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.