Sanders Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 14.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 33,504,543 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 4,247,379 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises approximately 9.3% of Sanders Capital LLC's holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Sanders Capital LLC owned about 0.27% of Alphabet worth $6,380,605,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in GOOG. Sterling Financial Planning Inc. grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Financial Planning Inc. now owns 1,941 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $370,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 14,423 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,747,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the period. Harrell Investment Partners LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Harrell Investment Partners LLC now owns 5,659 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,078,000 after buying an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC now owns 7,300 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,395,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 5,073 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $966,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company's stock.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Scotiabank lifted their price target on Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Citizens Jmp downgraded Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, KeyCorp cut their price objective on Alphabet from $202.00 to $185.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $208.71.
Read Our Latest Research Report on GOOG
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total value of $33,106.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 7,813 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,293,285.89. This trade represents a 2.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 1,340 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total value of $270,787.20. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 17,848 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,606,723.84. This represents a 6.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 115,663 shares of company stock valued at $20,286,447 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.
Alphabet Stock Down 2.0 %
Shares of NASDAQ:GOOG traded down $3.18 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $155.50. The company's stock had a trading volume of 16,903,668 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,400,727. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $142.66 and a 12-month high of $208.70. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $169.17 and a 200-day moving average of $177.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.90 trillion, a P/E ratio of 19.32, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.04. 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 - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.
Alphabet Dividend Announcement
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.51%. Alphabet's payout ratio is presently 9.94%.
About Alphabet
(
Free Report)
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.
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