AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 5.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,919,438 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 140,711 shares during the quarter. Alphabet accounts for about 0.7% of AQR Capital Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest position. AQR Capital Management LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $555,978,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.
A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $5,166,070,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at $1,551,533,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Alphabet by 16.1% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 57,098,042 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $10,873,751,000 after buying an additional 7,917,625 shares in the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 181,679.1% in the fourth quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 7,225,721 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $1,376,066,000 after acquiring an additional 7,221,746 shares during the period. Finally, Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 91,236,069 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $17,376,706,000 after acquiring an additional 5,758,244 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company's stock.
Insider Transactions at Alphabet
In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.16, for a total transaction of $5,075,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,685,196 shares in the company, valued at $419,320,207.36. This represents a 1.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total transaction of $33,106.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 7,813 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,293,285.89. This represents a 2.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 148,163 shares of company stock worth $25,361,647. 12.99% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.
Analyst Ratings Changes
Several brokerages have recently commented on GOOG. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Scotiabank decreased their target price on Alphabet from $232.00 to $200.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 21st. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, KeyCorp lowered their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $202.00 to $185.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $203.94.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on GOOG
Alphabet Price Performance
Shares of GOOG traded down $1.17 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $160.89. The stock had a trading volume of 20,452,435 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,202,988. The firm has a market cap of $1.96 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.99, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.04. Alphabet Inc. has a 12 month low of $142.66 and a 12 month high of $208.70. The business has a fifty day moving average of $162.85 and a 200 day moving average of $177.12. 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:GOOG - Get Free Report) last issued 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. 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 analyst estimates of $89.30 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.89 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.
Alphabet Increases Dividend
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. This is a positive change 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.52%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.36%.
About Alphabet
(
Free Report)
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.
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