Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Has $2.78 Billion Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 0.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,583,517 shares of the information services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 77,244 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for 0.7% of Dimensional Fund Advisors LP's portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned approximately 0.12% of Alphabet worth $2,777,570,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Sterling Financial Planning Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Financial Planning Inc. now owns 1,941 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $370,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 14,423 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $2,747,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Harrell Investment Partners LLC raised its position in Alphabet by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Harrell Investment Partners LLC now owns 5,659 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,078,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC now owns 7,300 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,395,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 5,073 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $966,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Trading Up 2.8 %

GOOG traded up $4.26 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $158.16. The company had a trading volume of 9,389,982 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,370,106. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $165.77 and its 200 day simple moving average is $177.32. The company has a market cap of $1.93 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.65, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $142.66 and a 12-month high of $208.70.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 EPS 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%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.51%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is 9.94%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, insider Ruth Porat sold 17,690 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.48, for a total value of $3,245,761.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 1,449,286 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $265,914,995.28. The trade was a 1.21 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.56, for a total transaction of $5,153,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,717,696 shares in the company, valued at approximately $430,917,877.76. The trade was a 1.18 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 148,163 shares of company stock valued at $25,361,647 over the last three months. 12.99% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on GOOG shares. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $232.00 to $200.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. KeyCorp cut their price target on shares of Alphabet from $202.00 to $185.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Citigroup restated a "sell" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $208.38.

Alphabet 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.