Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Position Boosted by Violich Capital Management Inc.

Violich Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 0.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 334,510 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 1,395 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises about 8.2% of Violich Capital Management Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Violich Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $63,323,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Alphabet by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 222,555,548 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $36,910,838,000 after acquiring an additional 743,369 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 134,030,679 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $22,154,651,000 after acquiring an additional 2,626,431 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Alphabet by 7.7% in 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 acquiring an additional 4,567,275 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Alphabet by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 49,857,900 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $8,268,933,000 after acquiring an additional 1,237,385 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Alphabet by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 37,233,079 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $6,175,106,000 after acquiring an additional 523,416 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GOOGL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Citizens Jmp lowered shares of Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. China Renaissance raised shares of Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. DA Davidson raised their price target on shares of Alphabet from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $187.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $210.62.

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 shares were sold at an average price of $183.48, for a total transaction of $3,245,761.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,449,286 shares in the company, valued at approximately $265,914,995.28. The trade was a 1.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 1,367 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.41, for a total transaction of $232,950.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 23,515 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,007,191.15. The trade was a 5.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 134,299 shares of company stock worth $25,055,751 over the last three months. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Stock Down 2.7 %

Alphabet stock traded down $4.90 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $179.66. The stock had a trading volume of 35,094,289 shares, compared to its average volume of 28,166,218. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.19 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.99. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $130.66 and a 12-month high of $207.05. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $192.46 and its 200-day moving average price is $175.69.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.45%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.