328,958 Shares in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Bought by Avanza Fonder AB

Avanza Fonder AB purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 328,958 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $62,647,000. Alphabet makes up about 1.9% of Avanza Fonder AB's investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest position.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GOOG. Weiss Asset Management LP purchased a new position in Alphabet during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the third quarter worth $33,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 9,200.0% during the second quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 186 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. HWG Holdings LP acquired a new position in Alphabet during the second quarter valued at $40,000. Finally, Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 87.3% in the third quarter. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. now owns 251 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Trading Up 1.6 %

NASDAQ:GOOG traded up $3.14 on Friday, reaching $197.55. The company's stock had a trading volume of 21,974,853 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,381,408. The firm has a market cap of $2.42 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a quick ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $131.55 and a 12-month high of $202.88. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $185.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $174.85.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The information services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.29. Alphabet had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 31.66%. The firm had revenue of $88.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $86.39 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.55 EPS. Alphabet's revenue was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th were issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.40%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.61%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on GOOG. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $212.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Citizens Jmp downgraded shares of Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Pivotal Research lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Alphabet from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Alphabet from $185.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $200.56.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 2,834 shares of the business's 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 directly owns 17,847 shares in the company, valued at $3,468,029.04. This represents a 13.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.22, for a total transaction of $291,330.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 23,324 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,529,987.28. This trade represents a 6.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 133,387 shares of company stock worth $24,368,654 over the last ninety days. Corporate 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.