Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Holdings Lifted by Capital Research Global Investors

Capital Research Global Investors boosted its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 16.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 72,033,086 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 10,037,685 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises 2.8% of Capital Research Global Investors' holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Capital Research Global Investors owned approximately 0.59% of Alphabet worth $13,635,878,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 9.8% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 248,416,916 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $47,025,322,000 after buying an additional 22,100,902 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $24,383,677,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in Alphabet by 15.9% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 66,050,135 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $12,503,291,000 after buying an additional 9,042,271 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position 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 worth $10,559,240,000 after buying an additional 4,567,275 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 50,615,038 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $9,581,427,000 after buying an additional 757,138 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In related news, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,690 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.51, for a total value of $3,281,671.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 43,111 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,997,521.61. The trade was a 29.09 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 1,340 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total transaction of $270,787.20. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 17,848 shares in the company, valued at $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 148,163 shares of company stock valued at $25,361,647 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 11.55% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Alphabet stock traded up $3.17 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $158.52. 14,323,655 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 32,786,879. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $140.53 and a twelve month high of $207.05. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $163.13 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $175.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84. The firm has a market cap of $1.93 trillion, a PE ratio of 19.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. Equities analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.94%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GOOGL has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wolfe Research raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Wedbush set a $190.00 price target on shares of Alphabet and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. KeyCorp dropped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $202.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of Alphabet from $235.00 to $200.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Alphabet from $184.00 to $167.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $199.64.

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.