JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd reduced its stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) by 13.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,349,673 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 216,960 shares during the period. Alphabet makes up approximately 1.5% of JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd's portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd's holdings in Alphabet were worth $251,730,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.
Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of GOOGL. Bennett Selby Investments LP grew its position in shares of Alphabet by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Bennett Selby Investments LP now owns 1,354 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $256,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Alphabet by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC now owns 1,293 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $245,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the period. Conrad Siegel Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Alphabet by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Conrad Siegel Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 9,845 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,864,000 after buying an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 2,381 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $457,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the period. Finally, Addison Advisors LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 7,527 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,425,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company's stock.
Insider Buying and Selling at Alphabet
In other Alphabet news, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,690 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.51, for a total value of $3,281,671.90. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 43,111 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,997,521.61. This trade represents a 29.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 2,824 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $187.43, for a total value of $529,302.32. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 15,024 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,815,948.32. This represents a 15.82% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 179,324 shares of company stock valued at $30,153,353. Company insiders own 11.64% of the company's stock.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
A number of research firms have commented on GOOGL. DZ Bank lowered Alphabet from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $198.00 target price for the company. in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Roth Mkm restated a "buy" rating and set a $220.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Mizuho cut their target price on shares of Alphabet from $230.00 to $205.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Alphabet from $167.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on shares of Alphabet from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Alphabet currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $199.75.
Get Our Latest Analysis on GOOGL
Alphabet Trading Up 0.8%
Shares of GOOGL traded up $1.30 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $159.76. The company had a trading volume of 10,634,410 shares, compared to its average volume of 28,780,618. 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 firm has a market cap of $1.94 trillion, a P/E ratio of 19.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.01. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $158.63 and its 200 day moving average price is $175.22.
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. Alphabet had a return on equity of 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. The company had revenue of $76.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $89.30 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.89 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.
Alphabet Increases Dividend
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th will be given a $0.21 dividend. This is a positive change from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is 9.36%.
Alphabet Profile
(
Free Report)
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.
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