Amiral Gestion Invests $26.69 Million in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Amiral Gestion purchased a new position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 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 investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 7.7% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 63,667,407 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $10,559,240,000 after purchasing an additional 4,567,275 shares during the last quarter. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Alphabet by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 23,533 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $4,455,000 after acquiring an additional 207 shares during the period. Wealth Group Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. now owns 1,582 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $299,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the period. Capital & Planning LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 34.3% during the fourth quarter. Capital & Planning LLC now owns 4,383 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $830,000 after buying an additional 1,119 shares during the period. Finally, Diversify Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Alphabet by 8.3% during the fourth quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 135,200 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $25,964,000 after buying an additional 10,342 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the company'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 sale, the director now owns 7,813 shares in the company, valued at $1,293,285.89. This represents a 2.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 1,374 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.47, for a total value of $238,347.78. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 15,024 shares in the company, valued at $2,606,213.28. The trade was a 8.38% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 164,654 shares of company stock valued at $26,793,380 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 11.64% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets restated an "outperform" rating and set a $200.00 price target (down from $230.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Susquehanna reduced their price objective on Alphabet from $225.00 to $220.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 25th. JMP Securities reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. UBS Group set a $195.00 price objective on Alphabet in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Roth Mkm reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $220.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $199.75.

Alphabet Price Performance

Alphabet stock traded up $4.43 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $172.90. 37,886,879 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 35,661,926. The company has a market capitalization of $2.10 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $158.67 and its 200-day simple moving average is $174.76. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $140.53 and a 1 year high of $207.05. 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:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. The firm had revenue of $76.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $89.30 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.89 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. This is an increase from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet's payout ratio is 9.36%.

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.