Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Purchased by Royal London Asset Management Ltd.

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. boosted its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 7,588,028 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 95,330 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises 3.5% of Royal London Asset Management Ltd.'s portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. owned about 0.06% of Alphabet worth $1,436,414,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Pettinga Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in 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 buying an additional 201 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings 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 in the last quarter. Comgest Global Investors S.A.S. raised its position in Alphabet by 6.8% in the third quarter. Comgest Global Investors S.A.S. now owns 1,568,198 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $260,086,000 after purchasing an additional 99,968 shares during the period. Cutler Investment Counsel LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 1.7% during the third quarter. Cutler Investment Counsel LLC now owns 3,663 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $607,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Finally, River Street Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 1.6% in the third quarter. River Street Advisors LLC now owns 15,243 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,528,000 after buying an additional 244 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company's stock.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on GOOGL shares. Citizens Jmp downgraded Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on shares of Alphabet from $235.00 to $200.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Alphabet from $232.00 to $229.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Roth Mkm reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $209.13.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 2,834 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total value of $550,702.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 17,847 shares in the company, valued at $3,468,029.04. This represents a 13.70 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Monday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.80, for a total transaction of $284,700.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 21,824 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,142,195.20. This trade represents a 6.43 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 87,297 shares of company stock valued at $15,936,270 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 11.55% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Trading Down 4.0 %

GOOGL traded down $6.32 during trading on Thursday, reaching $150.72. The company had a trading volume of 46,763,615 shares, compared to its average volume of 27,470,814. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $176.24 and its 200 day simple moving average is $176.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84. The company has a market cap of $1.84 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.72, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $147.22 and a 12-month 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 the consensus estimate 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 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

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 0.53%. Alphabet's payout ratio is currently 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.