Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. trimmed its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 0.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,243,553 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 24,839 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up about 5.7% of Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.'s portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $808,142,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.
A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 0.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 103,557,486 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $17,247,208,000 after buying an additional 259,213 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 30,824,307 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $5,870,181,000 after acquiring an additional 875,480 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at $5,166,070,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Alphabet by 2.5% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 11,024,276 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,843,149,000 after purchasing an additional 264,962 shares during the period. Finally, Swedbank AB increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 8,483,070 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,615,516,000 after purchasing an additional 144,170 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.26% of the company's stock.
Alphabet Price Performance
GOOG stock traded up $0.14 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $156.20. The stock had a trading volume of 19,729,620 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,723,809. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $181.53 and a 200 day simple moving average of $178.69. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $148.20 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 firm has a market capitalization of $1.90 trillion, a P/E ratio of 19.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03.
Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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, research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.
Alphabet Announces Dividend
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.51%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is currently 9.94%.
Insider Activity at Alphabet
In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 1,368 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.55, for a total value of $262,040.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 20,681 shares in the company, valued at $3,961,445.55. This trade represents a 6.20 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 29,066 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.89, for a total transaction of $5,374,012.74. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 272,466 shares in the company, valued at $50,376,238.74. The trade was a 9.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 87,992 shares of company stock valued at $16,097,111 over the last ninety days. 12.99% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
GOOG has been the subject of a number of research reports. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $212.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $208.56.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on Alphabet
Alphabet Profile
(
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.
See Also
Before you consider Alphabet, you'll want to hear this.
MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Alphabet wasn't on the list.
While Alphabet currently has a Moderate Buy rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.
View The Five Stocks Here
Enter your email address and we'll send you MarketBeat's guide to investing in 5G and which 5G stocks show the most promise.
Get This Free Report
