Vestcor Inc Boosts Position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Vestcor Inc boosted its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 8.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 127,064 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 9,413 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up approximately 0.8% of Vestcor Inc's investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. Vestcor Inc's holdings in Alphabet were worth $24,053,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of GOOGL. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 20,990.0% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,186,748 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,171,151,000 after purchasing an additional 6,157,413 shares during the period. Amundi lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 18.7% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 29,866,698 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $5,792,317,000 after buying an additional 4,694,621 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 7.7% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 63,667,407 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $10,559,240,000 after buying an additional 4,567,275 shares in the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new position in shares of Alphabet during the third quarter valued at $513,024,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 134,030,679 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $22,154,651,000 after acquiring an additional 2,626,431 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on GOOGL. JMP Securities reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. DZ Bank cut Alphabet from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $198.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Citizens Jmp lowered Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Bank of America reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $210.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $210.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $210.59.

Insider Activity

In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 16,820 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.62, for a total value of $3,239,868.40. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 43,981 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,471,620.22. This trade represents a 27.66 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 1,368 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.55, for a total transaction of $262,040.40. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 20,681 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,961,445.55. The trade was a 6.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 93,048 shares of company stock worth $17,374,274 over the last 90 days. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Price Performance

NASDAQ GOOGL traded down $4.42 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $166.14. The company's stock had a trading volume of 13,643,897 shares, 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 P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.02. The company's 50-day moving average is $181.72 and its two-hundred day moving average is $176.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84. Alphabet Inc. has a 1-year low of $147.21 and a 1-year high of $207.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last announced 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 return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. On average, equities analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. Alphabet's payout ratio is 9.94%.

Alphabet Company 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.