Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL is Amundi's 5th Largest Position

Key Points

• Amundi increased its holdings in Alphabet Inc. by 11.8% in the first quarter, owning 33,403,871 shares, making it the company's 5th largest position in their portfolio.
• Recent brokerages' analysis on Alphabet shows an average target price of $213.63, with a mixture of ratings, including four analysts giving a Strong Buy recommendation.
• Alphabet declared a quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share, to be paid on September 15th, reflecting an annualized yield of 0.4%.

Amundi increased its position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 11.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 33,403,871 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 3,537,173 shares during the period. Alphabet accounts for about 1.8% of Amundi's investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Amundi owned about 0.28% of Alphabet worth $5,034,992,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Nia Impact Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Nia Impact Advisors LLC now owns 17,161 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $3,249,000 after buying an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Enzi Wealth increased its stake in Alphabet by 2.5% during the first quarter. Enzi Wealth now owns 2,561 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $408,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 1.2% during the first quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 5,438 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $817,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Aspire Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in Alphabet by 1.0% during the first quarter. Aspire Capital Advisors LLC now owns 7,020 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,086,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rainey & Randall Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Alphabet by 2.1% during the first quarter. Rainey & Randall Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 3,209 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $496,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $229.73, for a total transaction of $7,466,225.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,429,892 shares in the company, valued at approximately $558,219,089.16. This represents a 1.32% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 23,820 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.70, for a total value of $4,637,754.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 42,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,371,905.30. This represents a 35.65% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 254,710 shares of company stock worth $49,208,380. 11.64% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Alphabet Stock Up 1.2%

NASDAQ GOOGL traded up $2.70 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $235.00. 46,562,292 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 33,713,716. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.90. The company has a market cap of $2.84 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.01. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $195.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $175.48. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $140.53 and a 52 week high of $235.76.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The information services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $96.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $93.60 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 31.12%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 8th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is currently 8.95%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Roth Capital boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Alphabet from $200.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Guggenheim upped their target price on Alphabet from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Barclays upped their target price on Alphabet from $235.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-one have issued a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $222.33.

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.