Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Position Boosted by Causeway Capital Management LLC

Causeway Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 6.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 595,557 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 34,841 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises approximately 2.6% of Causeway Capital Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Causeway Capital Management LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $113,418,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth $38,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth $43,000. 27.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 673 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.33, for a total value of $104,537.09. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 15,303 shares in the company, valued at $2,377,014.99. The trade was a 4.21 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.56, for a total value of $5,153,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,717,696 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $430,917,877.76. This represents a 1.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 115,663 shares of company stock valued at $20,286,447 over the last 90 days. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Stock Performance

GOOG traded down $2.14 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $153.36. The company's stock had a trading volume of 19,461,666 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,413,783. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $142.66 and a fifty-two week high of $208.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.87 trillion, a PE ratio of 19.05, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $167.84 and a 200 day simple moving average of $177.58. 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:GOOG - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is presently 9.94%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GOOG has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. KeyCorp lowered their target price on Alphabet from $202.00 to $185.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $209.00 to $173.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Benchmark reiterated a "negative" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Oppenheimer upped 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. Finally, Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating and set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $210.88.

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.