Gateway Investment Advisers LLC Increases Holdings in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Gateway Investment Advisers LLC increased its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 6.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 609,065 shares of the information services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 38,954 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up about 1.1% of Gateway Investment Advisers LLC's holdings, making the stock its 18th biggest position. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC's holdings in Alphabet were worth $94,186,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of GOOGL. Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new position in shares of Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet in the fourth quarter valued at $39,000. PayPay Securities Corp increased its stake in Alphabet by 36.1% in the fourth quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 245 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at about $49,000. Finally, Navigoe LLC bought a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter worth about $51,000. 40.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of Alphabet stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.53, for a total value of $33,106.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 7,813 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,293,285.89. This trade represents a 2.50% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 11,764 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.84, for a total value of $1,962,705.76. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 49,037 shares in the company, 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. Insiders sold a total of 195,770 shares of company stock valued at $32,036,638 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 11.64% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Up 1.4%

Shares of GOOGL stock traded up $2.41 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $176.09. 28,876,123 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 30,199,289. The company's 50-day moving average price is $160.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $174.38. The company has a market cap of $2.14 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current 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.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.79. The company had revenue of $76.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $89.30 billion. Alphabet had a net margin of 28.60% and a return on equity of 32.49%. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.89 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.48%. This is an increase from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is presently 9.36%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on Alphabet from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Alphabet from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley lowered 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. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their target price on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $159.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. 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 stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target 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.