Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Stock Holdings Raised by Covea Finance

Covea Finance increased its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 221.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 444,500 shares of the information services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 306,185 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises about 3.1% of Covea Finance's investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position. Covea Finance's holdings in Alphabet were worth $68,737,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at about $24,383,677,000. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 9.8% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 248,416,916 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $47,025,322,000 after buying an additional 22,100,902 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 16,993.2% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 16,062,457 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $2,483,898,000 after buying an additional 15,968,487 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 17.0% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 69,616,854 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $13,178,470,000 after acquiring an additional 10,135,430 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in shares of Alphabet by 16.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 72,033,086 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $13,635,878,000 after acquiring an additional 10,037,685 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alphabet news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.68, for a total value of $5,742,100.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,555,196 shares in the company, valued at approximately $451,452,029.28. The trade was a 1.26% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 673 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.33, for a total value of $104,537.09. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 15,303 shares in the company, valued at $2,377,014.99. This trade represents a 4.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 228,070 shares of company stock worth $37,745,632 over the last quarter. 11.64% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Alphabet Stock Performance

GOOGL traded up $3.91 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $170.68. 35,420,806 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 30,833,475. The company's 50-day moving average is $165.45 and its 200 day moving average is $174.58. The company has a quick ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.07 trillion, a PE ratio of 19.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.01. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $140.53 and a 52 week high of $207.05.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The information services provider reported $2.81 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.79. The company had revenue of $76.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a return on equity of 34.54% and a net margin of 30.86%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.89 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th were issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 9th. This is a positive change from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet's payout ratio is currently 9.36%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $185.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $203.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $225.00 to $192.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Westpark Capital reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $210.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $189.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $200.17.

Alphabet 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.