Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Stock Position Boosted by AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc

AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc increased its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 35.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,084,751 shares of the information services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 283,159 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up about 2.7% of AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc's holdings, making the stock its 8th largest holding. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc's holdings in Alphabet were worth $206,569,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Weiss Asset Management LP purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter valued at $33,000. HWG Holdings LP purchased a new position in Alphabet in the second quarter valued at $40,000. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. grew its stake in Alphabet by 87.3% during the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. now owns 251 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 32.3% in the 3rd quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 344 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Friday. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. UBS Group increased their target price on Alphabet from $187.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Phillip Securities raised Alphabet to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $205.13.

Alphabet Stock Performance

GOOG traded up $2.71 on Tuesday, hitting $196.48. 9,329,542 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 16,092,699. The company has a 50 day moving average of $188.29 and a 200-day moving average of $175.13. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $131.55 and a 12-month high of $203.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.41 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.07, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a quick ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. The company had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $86.39 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.55 EPS. Alphabet's revenue was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director Frances Arnold sold 441 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.06, for a total transaction of $75,437.46. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 16,490 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,820,779.40. The trade was a 2.60 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now owns 43,981 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,471,620.22. This represents a 27.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 133,387 shares of company stock valued at $24,368,654. 12.99% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.