Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Stake Boosted by Altimeter Capital Management LP

Altimeter Capital Management LP raised its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 31.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 867,305 shares of the information services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 205,660 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises approximately 3.0% of Altimeter Capital Management LP's investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. Altimeter Capital Management LP's holdings in Alphabet were worth $164,181,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of GOOGL. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased 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 valued at $1,871,384,000 after purchasing an additional 337,031 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 7.7% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 63,667,407 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $10,559,240,000 after acquiring an additional 4,567,275 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Alphabet by 14.4% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 93,970 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $17,789,000 after acquiring an additional 11,834 shares during the period. NRI Wealth Management LC bought a new position in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $239,000. Finally, Modus Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $77,000. 40.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on GOOGL shares. Rosenblatt Securities reduced their target price on Alphabet from $205.00 to $189.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 25th. Susquehanna reduced their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $225.00 to $220.00 and set a "positive" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 25th. UBS Group set a $195.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, April 25th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their target price on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have assigned a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $199.46.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of GOOGL traded up $0.18 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $164.21. The stock had a trading volume of 21,320,782 shares, compared to its average volume of 28,166,316. The company's 50-day moving average is $160.19 and its two-hundred day moving average is $175.50. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $140.53 and a 12 month high of $207.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.99 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.40, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. The business had revenue of $76.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.89 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. This is a boost from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.51%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is 9.36%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total transaction of $33,106.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 7,813 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,293,285.89. The trade was a 2.50 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,717,696 shares in the company, valued at approximately $430,917,877.76. The trade was a 1.18 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 146,824 shares of company stock worth $25,086,603 over the last three months. 11.55% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.