Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC Invests $410.88 Million in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 2,157,515 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $410,877,000. Alphabet accounts for about 2.2% of Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest holding.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at $5,166,070,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,551,533,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Alphabet by 16.1% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 57,098,042 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $10,873,751,000 after purchasing an additional 7,917,625 shares during the period. GQG Partners LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 181,679.1% during the fourth quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 7,225,721 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $1,376,066,000 after purchasing an additional 7,221,746 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 6.7% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 91,236,069 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $17,376,706,000 after purchasing an additional 5,758,244 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of GOOG stock opened at $154.38 on Monday. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $142.66 and a 12 month high of $208.70. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $160.96 and its 200-day simple moving average is $177.02. The firm has a market cap of $1.87 trillion, a PE ratio of 19.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. The company had revenue of $90.23 billion during 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%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.89 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. This is a boost from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio is 9.36%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Susquehanna reissued a “positive” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Citigroup restated a “sell” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Alphabet from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $203.94.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.90, for a total value of $5,066,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,652,696 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $413,555,306.40. The trade was a 1.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Ruth Porat sold 17,690 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.48, for a total transaction of $3,245,761.20. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,449,286 shares in the company, valued at approximately $265,914,995.28. The trade was a 1.21% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 179,324 shares of company stock worth $30,153,353. 12.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.