Voya Investment Management LLC Raises Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Voya Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 10.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,645,585 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 342,102 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up approximately 0.7% of Voya Investment Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest position. Voya Investment Management LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $694,265,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. acquired a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $43,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on GOOG shares. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on Alphabet from $232.00 to $200.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Citigroup reiterated a "sell" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Alphabet from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $208.38.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In related news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 1,340 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total transaction of $270,787.20. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 17,848 shares in the company, valued at $3,606,723.84. This represents a 6.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,690 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.51, for a total value of $3,281,671.90. Following the sale, the insider now owns 43,111 shares in the company, valued at $7,997,521.61. The trade was a 29.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 148,163 shares of company stock worth $25,361,647 in the last ninety days. 12.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Alphabet Trading Up 2.6 %

GOOG opened at $157.97 on Thursday. The firm's 50 day moving average is $165.19 and its 200-day moving average is $177.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.93 trillion, a P/E ratio of 19.62, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.04. Alphabet Inc. has a 52-week low of $142.66 and a 52-week high of $208.70. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - 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, beating 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%. Analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. 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.

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