Axiom Investors LLC DE Boosts Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Axiom Investors LLC DE raised its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 40.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,409,569 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 989,137 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for about 4.8% of Axiom Investors LLC DE's holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Axiom Investors LLC DE's holdings in Alphabet were worth $645,431,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 518.8% in the 4th quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares during the period. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. PayPay Securities Corp increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 36.1% in the fourth quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 245 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Finally, Denver PWM LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 25.4% in the third quarter. Denver PWM LLC now owns 281 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alphabet Stock Up 2.8 %

GOOGL stock traded up $4.32 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $157.14. The stock had a trading volume of 33,590,459 shares, compared to its average volume of 28,202,345. The business has a 50-day moving average of $168.52 and a two-hundred day moving average of $176.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84. The firm has a market cap of $1.92 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $140.53 and a 52-week high of $207.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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 net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast 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. Shareholders 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 0.51%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is 9.94%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,690 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the insider now owns 43,111 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,997,521.61. This represents a 29.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 1,340 shares of the firm'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 transaction of $270,787.20. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 17,848 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,606,723.84. This trade represents a 6.98 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 119,797 shares of company stock worth $21,089,470. Insiders own 11.55% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Roth Mkm restated a "buy" rating and set a $220.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Bank of America restated a "buy" rating and issued a $210.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $205.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Wedbush boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, DA Davidson raised their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $206.51.

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.