Amiral Gestion Makes New Investment in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Amiral Gestion acquired a new position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 140,990 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $26,687,000. Alphabet accounts for about 16.9% of Amiral Gestion's portfolio, making the stock its largest holding.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Alphabet by 518.8% during the 4th quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 198 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. PayPay Securities Corp boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 36.1% during the fourth quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 245 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Anderson Financial Strategies LLC bought a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at $49,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of GOOGL stock traded up $0.14 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $173.04. 17,636,621 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 29,735,032. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Alphabet Inc. has a 12-month low of $140.53 and a 12-month high of $207.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.10 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. The company's 50-day moving average price is $158.87 and its 200-day moving average price is $174.75.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last announced 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 $76.49 billion for 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%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.89 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm 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 is Monday, June 9th. This is an increase from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.36%.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 1,374 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.47, for a total transaction of $238,347.78. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 15,024 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,606,213.28. The trade was a 8.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total transaction of $33,106.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly 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. Insiders have sold a total of 164,654 shares of company stock valued at $26,793,380 over the last ninety days. 11.55% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on GOOGL shares. KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Roth Mkm reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on Alphabet from $225.00 to $192.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Westpark Capital reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $210.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and issued a $178.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $199.75.

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.