Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. Acquires 31,124 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 41.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 106,535 shares of the information services provider's stock after buying an additional 31,124 shares during the period. Alphabet comprises approximately 0.8% of Harbor Capital Advisors Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Alphabet were worth $16,475,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 9.8% in 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 in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Alphabet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $24,383,677,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in shares of Alphabet by 8.3% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 98,638,127 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $18,672,198,000 after purchasing an additional 7,574,417 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 16.2% in the fourth 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 purchasing an additional 10,037,685 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 17.0% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 69,616,854 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $13,178,470,000 after purchasing an additional 10,135,430 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. UBS Group set a $195.00 price objective on Alphabet in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $210.00 to $185.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Susquehanna lowered 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. Bank of America upped their price target on Alphabet from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Alphabet from $225.00 to $192.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Ten equities research 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 company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $199.75.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other news, 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 transaction of $104,537.09. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 15,303 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,377,014.99. The trade was a 4.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 200 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The shares were 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 directly owns 7,813 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,293,285.89. The trade was a 2.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 195,770 shares of company stock valued at $32,036,638. Corporate insiders own 11.64% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Stock Up 1.4%

Alphabet stock traded up $2.51 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $178.60. The stock had a trading volume of 61,705,672 shares, compared to its average volume of 30,325,150. 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 52-week low of $140.53 and a 52-week high of $207.05. The stock has a market cap of $2.17 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $160.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $174.46.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $76.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 business earned $1.89 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS 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 issued a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.47%. This is an increase from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.