Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Stake Raised by Bellwether Advisors LLC

Bellwether Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) by 9.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 12,517 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,078 shares during the period. Bellwether Advisors LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $2,369,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at $24,383,677,000. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 9.8% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 248,416,916 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $47,025,322,000 after buying an additional 22,100,902 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 16.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 72,033,086 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $13,635,878,000 after buying an additional 10,037,685 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 15.9% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 66,050,135 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $12,503,291,000 after acquiring an additional 9,042,271 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 8.3% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 98,638,127 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $18,672,198,000 after acquiring an additional 7,574,417 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group boosted their target price on Alphabet from $173.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. Rosenblatt Securities decreased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $205.00 to $189.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Roth Mkm reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $178.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday. Finally, Citizens Jmp lowered Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have given a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $198.63.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 673 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.33, for a total value of $104,537.09. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 15,303 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,377,014.99. This represents a 4.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,690 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.51, for a total value of $3,281,671.90. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 43,111 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,997,521.61. This trade represents a 29.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 148,163 shares of company stock valued at $25,361,647. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Alphabet Trading Up 1.7 %

GOOGL opened at $161.96 on Monday. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $140.53 and a 1-year high of $207.05. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $162.18 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $175.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.97 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.12, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. The firm had revenue of $76.49 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.89 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This is an increase from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.52%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.36%.

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.