Crestline Management LP Raises Stock Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Crestline Management LP increased its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 5,584.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 233,078 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 228,978 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for 1.5% of Crestline Management LP's holdings, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Crestline Management LP's holdings in Alphabet were worth $44,122,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. FMR LLC raised its stake in Alphabet by 9.8% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 248,416,916 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $47,025,322,000 after acquiring an additional 22,100,902 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the 4th quarter worth $24,383,677,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 8.3% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 98,638,127 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $18,672,198,000 after buying an additional 7,574,417 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 16.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 72,033,086 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $13,635,878,000 after purchasing an additional 10,037,685 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Alphabet by 17.0% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 69,616,854 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $13,178,470,000 after buying an additional 10,135,430 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL traded up $2.90 during trading on Thursday, hitting $154.28. The company had a trading volume of 57,353,125 shares, compared to its average volume of 28,714,286. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $140.53 and a 52 week high of $207.05. The company has a market cap of $1.87 trillion, a P/E ratio of 19.17, 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. The business's 50-day moving average is $159.54 and its 200 day moving average is $175.25.

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, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $89.30 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.89 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. This is a positive change from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.36%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GOOGL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $167.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on Alphabet from $235.00 to $200.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 31st. DZ Bank lowered Alphabet from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $198.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Roth Mkm reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $178.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $199.75.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total transaction of $33,106.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 7,813 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,293,285.89. The trade was a 2.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.16, for a total transaction of $5,075,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,685,196 shares in the company, valued at approximately $419,320,207.36. This trade represents a 1.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 146,824 shares of company stock worth $25,086,603. Corporate insiders own 11.64% of the company's stock.

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.