BNP Paribas Increases Stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

BNP Paribas lifted its holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 6.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 424,888 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 24,813 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises 3.4% of BNP Paribas' portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. BNP Paribas' holdings in Alphabet were worth $81,158,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in GOOG. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.56, for a total value of $5,153,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,717,696 shares in the company, valued at approximately $430,917,877.76. This represents a 1.18 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 1,340 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total transaction of $270,787.20. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 17,848 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,606,723.84. This trade represents a 6.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 148,164 shares of company stock valued at $25,357,390. 12.99% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on GOOG shares. Scotiabank dropped their target price on shares of Alphabet from $232.00 to $200.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Westpark Capital reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $210.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Tigress Financial reiterated a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $171.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, April 25th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $203.94.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GOOG opened at $165.81 on Friday. 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 stock has a 50 day moving average price of $162.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $177.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.01 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $142.66 and a 52 week high of $208.70.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. The company had revenue of $90.23 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%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.89 EPS. Analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. This is a positive change 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 payout ratio is currently 9.36%.

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.

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