Janus Henderson Group PLC Has $5.87 Billion Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 5.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 30,827,999 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 1,467,805 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up 3.0% of Janus Henderson Group PLC's portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Janus Henderson Group PLC owned 0.25% of Alphabet worth $5,870,944,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 17,606 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $3,353,000 after buying an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 1,032,321 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $196,595,000 after buying an additional 53,925 shares in the last quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 14.8% in the 4th quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,893 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,694,000 after acquiring an additional 1,149 shares during the last quarter. Clark & Stuart Inc bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth approximately $294,000. Finally, EWG Elevate Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth $289,000. 27.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on GOOG. Citigroup reaffirmed a "sell" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $171.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, April 25th. Westpark Capital reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $210.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Friday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Alphabet from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Benchmark reissued a "negative" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $203.94.

Alphabet Price Performance

NASDAQ GOOG traded up $1.64 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $161.22. The company had a trading volume of 5,916,681 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,517,024. 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 Inc. has a 52 week low of $142.66 and a 52 week high of $208.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.96 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.01, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $160.65 and a 200 day simple moving average of $176.97.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. The firm had revenue of $90.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $89.30 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.89 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be issued a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. This is an increase from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.56, for a total value of $5,153,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,717,696 shares in the company, valued at approximately $430,917,877.76. This trade represents a 1.18% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 2,824 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $187.43, for a total transaction of $529,302.32. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 15,024 shares in the company, valued at $2,815,948.32. This represents a 15.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 179,324 shares of company stock worth $30,153,353. 12.99% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Alphabet

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.