Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Holdings Trimmed by Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec

Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lessened its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 8.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,041,789 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 481,945 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for approximately 2.0% of Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec's investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec's holdings in Alphabet were worth $954,411,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 518.8% in the fourth quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth $39,000. PayPay Securities Corp grew its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 36.1% during the fourth quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 245 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Denver PWM LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet by 25.4% in the 3rd quarter. Denver PWM LLC now owns 281 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the period. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Alphabet news, Director Kavitark Ram Shriram sold 29,066 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.89, for a total value of $5,374,012.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 272,466 shares of the company's stock, valued at $50,376,238.74. The trade was a 9.64 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 1,340 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total transaction of $270,787.20. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 17,848 shares in the company, valued at $3,606,723.84. This represents a 6.98 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 148,164 shares of company stock valued at $25,357,390 in the last quarter. Insiders own 11.55% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Truist Financial dropped their price target on Alphabet from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $225.00 to $192.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Roth Mkm reissued a "buy" rating and set a $220.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have issued a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $199.46.

Alphabet Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL traded up $2.73 during trading on Friday, hitting $164.03. 25,689,744 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 28,219,299. 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 Inc. has a 12-month low of $140.53 and a 12-month high of $207.05. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $160.19 and a 200-day moving average price of $175.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.99 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. The business had revenue of $76.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.89 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 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 given a $0.21 dividend. 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 0.51%. This is an increase from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. 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.