Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. Has $279.39 Million Stock Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 2.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,475,937 shares of the information services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 29,635 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises 5.6% of Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S.'s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $279,394,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. Pettinga Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 10.1% during the third quarter. Pettinga Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,186 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $363,000 after acquiring an additional 201 shares during the period. Impax Asset Management Group plc lifted its holdings in Alphabet by 6.8% during the 3rd quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 728,575 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $120,834,000 after purchasing an additional 46,677 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Alphabet by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 11,283,594 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,871,384,000 after purchasing an additional 337,031 shares during the period. Legacy Capital Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet by 26.7% in the 3rd quarter. Legacy Capital Wealth Partners LLC now owns 8,304 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,377,000 after purchasing an additional 1,749 shares during the period. Finally, Round Rock Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 7.5% in the 3rd quarter. Round Rock Advisors LLC now owns 9,324 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,546,000 after buying an additional 649 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

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Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, insider Ruth Porat sold 17,690 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $265,914,995.28. The trade was a 1.21 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total transaction of $3,239,868.40. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 43,981 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,471,620.22. This represents a 27.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 93,048 shares of company stock worth $17,374,274. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. JMP Securities reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. KeyCorp cut their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $202.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $208.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Alphabet from $215.00 to $210.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $210.59.

Alphabet Trading Down 2.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL traded down $4.42 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $166.14. 13,643,897 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 30,132,676. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.03 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.64, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.02. Alphabet Inc. has a twelve month low of $147.21 and a twelve month high of $207.05. The business's fifty day moving average price is $181.72 and its 200-day moving average price is $176.86. 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 (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.03. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. On average, research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.48%. Alphabet's payout ratio is 9.94%.

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.