Avanza Fonder AB Takes Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Avanza Fonder AB bought a new position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 371,778 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $70,378,000. Alphabet accounts for 2.1% of Avanza Fonder AB's holdings, making the stock its 7th biggest holding.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 43,005.6% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 18,743,594 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $31,086,250,000 after acquiring an additional 18,700,111 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 587.4% in the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 10,690,326 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,772,991,000 after purchasing an additional 9,135,056 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in Alphabet by 116.4% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 8,670,225 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,437,957,000 after purchasing an additional 4,662,809 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Alphabet by 7.7% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 63,667,407 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $10,559,240,000 after purchasing an additional 4,567,275 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wulff Hansen & CO. lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 18,810.2% during the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 4,434,260 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $807,700,000 after buying an additional 4,410,811 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Frances Arnold sold 441 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.06, for a total transaction of $75,437.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,490 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,820,779.40. This represents a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 2,834 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total value of $550,702.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 17,847 shares in the company, valued at $3,468,029.04. This represents a 13.70 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 133,387 shares of company stock valued at $24,368,654. Insiders own 11.55% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Up 1.6 %

NASDAQ GOOGL traded up $3.09 on Monday, hitting $196.00. 27,621,897 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 23,105,888. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $130.66 and a fifty-two week high of $201.42. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $184.43 and a 200-day moving average price of $173.25. The company has a quick ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The company has a market cap of $2.40 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.99, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 0.98.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. The company had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $72.85 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.55 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 10.61%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and set a $210.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wedbush raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Loop Capital upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Bank of America reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $210.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Alphabet from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $208.15.

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.