Alta Advisers Ltd Has $3.04 Million Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Alta Advisers Ltd lifted its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 12.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,983 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 1,783 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises approximately 1.9% of Alta Advisers Ltd's holdings, making the stock its 12th biggest position. Alta Advisers Ltd's holdings in Alphabet were worth $3,044,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $5,166,070,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth $1,551,533,000. GQG Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 181,679.1% in the fourth quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 7,225,721 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,376,066,000 after purchasing an additional 7,221,746 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 6.7% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 91,236,069 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $17,376,706,000 after purchasing an additional 5,758,244 shares during the period. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 5,712.8% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,367,831 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $831,810,000 after purchasing an additional 4,292,689 shares during the period. 27.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alphabet Price Performance

NASDAQ:GOOG traded up $2.38 on Friday, hitting $163.85. The company had a trading volume of 35,100,087 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,526,202. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $142.66 and a 52 week high of $208.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.00 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.35, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.04. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $164.69 and a two-hundred day moving average of $177.17.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.04 by $0.77. The company had revenue of $90.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is currently 9.94%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on GOOG. Citigroup reiterated a "sell" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday. Citizens Jmp downgraded Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $171.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Westpark Capital reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $210.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alphabet has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $203.94.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 1,340 shares of the company's 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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 17,848 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,606,723.84. This represents a 6.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.16, for a total transaction of $5,075,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,685,196 shares in the company, valued at approximately $419,320,207.36. This trade represents a 1.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 148,163 shares of company stock worth $25,361,647 in the last quarter. 12.99% of the stock is owned by 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.