Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Shares Purchased by BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp

BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 6.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,855,221 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 113,147 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up about 2.1% of BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp's investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp's holdings in Alphabet were worth $351,193,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 39.8% in the 4th quarter. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 63,888 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $12,094,000 after acquiring an additional 18,200 shares in the last quarter. Kolinsky Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Alphabet by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Kolinsky Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,874 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,437,000 after purchasing an additional 286 shares during the last quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 31,788 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $6,017,000 after purchasing an additional 233 shares during the period. Note Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at $294,000. Finally, Ames National Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth $542,000. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 1,374 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.47, for a total transaction of $238,347.78. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 15,024 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,606,213.28. The trade was a 8.38% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 11,764 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.84, for a total transaction of $1,962,705.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 49,037 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,181,333.08. The trade was a 19.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 164,654 shares of company stock worth $26,793,380. Corporate insiders own 11.64% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

Shares of Alphabet stock traded down $2.40 during trading on Friday, hitting $168.47. The stock had a trading volume of 35,166,008 shares, compared to its average volume of 29,747,753. The business has a fifty day moving average of $158.57 and a two-hundred day moving average of $174.87. Alphabet Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $140.53 and a fifty-two week high of $207.05. The firm has a market cap of $2.04 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.93, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. The company had revenue of $76.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.30 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.89 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors 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 yield of 0.50%. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is currently 9.36%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on GOOGL. Roth Mkm reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $220.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Truist Financial decreased their target price on Alphabet from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Alphabet from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $189.00 price target on shares of Alphabet in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Susquehanna reduced their price objective on Alphabet from $225.00 to $220.00 and set a "positive" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $199.75.

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.