Swiss National Bank lowered its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 5.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 16,551,600 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 883,800 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for approximately 2.1% of Swiss National Bank's holdings, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Swiss National Bank owned about 0.14% of Alphabet worth $3,133,218,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pettinga Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 10.1% in the third quarter. Pettinga Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,186 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $363,000 after buying an additional 201 shares during the last quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc lifted its stake in Alphabet by 6.8% during the third 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 holdings in Alphabet by 3.1% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 11,283,594 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,871,384,000 after purchasing an additional 337,031 shares during the period. Legacy Capital Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 26.7% during the third 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 last quarter. Finally, Round Rock Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 7.5% during the third quarter. Round Rock Advisors LLC now owns 9,324 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,546,000 after purchasing an additional 649 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Alphabet Trading Down 2.6 %
Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL traded down $4.42 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $166.14. The company had a trading volume of 13,643,897 shares, compared to its average volume of 30,132,676. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $181.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $176.86. The firm has a market cap of $2.03 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.02. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $147.21 and a 1-year high of $207.05. 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 announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 EPS 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%. Research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.
Alphabet Announces Dividend
The company 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.94%.
Insider Activity
In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total value of $33,106.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 7,813 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,293,285.89. This represents a 2.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Ruth Porat sold 17,690 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.48, for a total transaction of $3,245,761.20. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,449,286 shares in the company, valued at $265,914,995.28. The trade was a 1.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 93,048 shares of company stock worth $17,374,274 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 11.55% of the company's stock.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on GOOGL shares. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. DA Davidson increased their price target on Alphabet from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Alphabet from $215.00 to $210.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Alphabet from $232.00 to $220.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $210.59.
Check Out Our Latest Research Report on GOOGL
Alphabet Company 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.
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