Axa S.A. Boosts Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

AXA S.A. boosted its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 4.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,075,778 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 122,339 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises about 1.8% of AXA S.A.'s holdings, making the stock its 6th largest holding. AXA S.A.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $582,245,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in GOOGL. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 3.1% during 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. grew its holdings in Alphabet by 7.7% during 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 buying an additional 4,567,275 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 14.4% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 93,970 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $17,789,000 after purchasing an additional 11,834 shares during the last quarter. NRI Wealth Management LC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth $239,000. Finally, Modus Advisors LLC bought a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth approximately $77,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:GOOGL traded up $0.18 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $164.21. 21,320,782 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 28,166,316. 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 firm has a market cap of $1.99 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $160.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $175.50. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $140.53 and a fifty-two week high of $207.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. The firm had revenue of $76.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $89.30 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.89 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 2,824 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $187.43, for a total value of $529,302.32. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 15,024 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,815,948.32. This trade represents a 15.82 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,690 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.51, for a total transaction of $3,281,671.90. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 43,111 shares in the company, valued at $7,997,521.61. This represents a 29.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 146,824 shares of company stock valued at $25,086,603 in the last ninety days. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GOOGL has been the subject of several recent research reports. Tigress Financial raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. KeyCorp increased their price objective on Alphabet from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. UBS Group set a $195.00 price target on Alphabet in a report on Friday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Alphabet from $210.00 to $185.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have given a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $199.46.

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.