Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Bought by KBC Group NV

KBC Group NV raised its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 1.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,086,185 shares of the information services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 93,733 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up 4.2% of KBC Group NV's portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. KBC Group NV owned approximately 0.07% of Alphabet worth $1,539,933,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SPC Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 2nd quarter valued at $287,000. New Century Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the second quarter valued at about $385,000. RiverFront Investment Group LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 14.0% during the second quarter. RiverFront Investment Group LLC now owns 214,555 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $39,354,000 after acquiring an additional 26,430 shares during the last quarter. Farmers National Bank raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 91.9% in the 2nd quarter. Farmers National Bank now owns 8,927 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,637,000 after purchasing an additional 4,274 shares during the period. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the second quarter worth $607,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GOOG has been the subject of several recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Barclays boosted their price target on Alphabet from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Alphabet from $212.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Citizens Jmp lowered Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $205.80.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG traded up $4.81 during trading on Thursday, hitting $201.99. 8,075,581 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 15,824,231. 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 business's fifty day moving average is $189.03 and its 200-day moving average is $175.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.47 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.79, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.99. Alphabet Inc. has a one year low of $131.55 and a one year high of $203.84.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $88.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $86.39 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 27.74%. The firm's revenue was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.55 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, Director Frances Arnold sold 441 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.06, for a total value of $75,437.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 16,490 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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 can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 2,834 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total transaction of $550,702.88. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 17,847 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,468,029.04. This represents a 13.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 122,887 shares of company stock worth $22,470,464. Insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

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.