Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Stock Position Increased by Azimuth Capital Investment Management LLC

Azimuth Capital Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 2.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 306,736 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 6,823 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises about 2.3% of Azimuth Capital Investment Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Azimuth Capital Investment Management LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $58,065,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Alphabet by 9.8% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 248,416,916 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $47,025,322,000 after purchasing an additional 22,100,902 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 134,030,679 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $22,154,651,000 after buying an additional 2,626,431 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth approximately $24,383,677,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Alphabet by 15.9% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 66,050,135 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $12,503,291,000 after purchasing an additional 9,042,271 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 7.7% in the third 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, April 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.90, for a total transaction of $32,380.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,613 shares in the company, valued at $1,232,544.70. The trade was a 2.56 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 1,340 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total value of $270,787.20. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 17,848 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,606,723.84. The trade was a 6.98 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 115,663 shares of company stock valued at $20,286,447. Corporate insiders own 11.55% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Trading Down 1.5 %

GOOGL stock traded down $2.25 during trading on Friday, hitting $151.08. The company had a trading volume of 32,930,996 shares, compared to its average volume of 28,296,298. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.84 trillion, a P/E ratio of 18.77, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. 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 Inc. has a 52-week low of $140.53 and a 52-week high of $207.05. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $165.82 and a 200-day simple moving average of $175.88.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The information services provider reported $2.15 EPS 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%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share 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 issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.53%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is presently 9.94%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on GOOGL shares. JMP Securities reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $205.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Citizens Jmp lowered Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Roth Mkm restated a "buy" rating and issued a $220.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Westpark Capital upgraded Alphabet to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have given a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $200.74.

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.