JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd Sells 16,553 Shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)

JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd lowered its position in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - Free Report) by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,243,510 shares of the information services provider's stock after selling 16,553 shares during the quarter. Alphabet comprises approximately 1.4% of JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd's holdings, making the stock its 27th largest holding. JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd's holdings in Alphabet were worth $236,814,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Alphabet in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $5,166,070,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at $1,551,533,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of Alphabet by 16.1% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 57,098,042 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $10,873,751,000 after purchasing an additional 7,917,625 shares during the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC raised its holdings in Alphabet by 181,679.1% in the 4th quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 7,225,721 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $1,376,066,000 after acquiring an additional 7,221,746 shares during the period. Finally, Capital International Investors lifted its position in shares of Alphabet by 6.7% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 91,236,069 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $17,376,706,000 after purchasing an additional 5,758,244 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.26% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Alphabet news, 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 owns 15,024 shares in the company, valued at $2,815,948.32. This represents a 15.82% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider John Kent Walker sold 17,690 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.51, for a total value of $3,281,671.90. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 43,111 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,997,521.61. This trade represents a 29.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 179,324 shares of company stock valued at $30,153,353. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company's stock.

Alphabet Trading Up 1.1%

NASDAQ:GOOG traded up $1.68 on Tuesday, hitting $161.26. The stock had a trading volume of 5,916,681 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,517,024. The stock has a market cap of $1.96 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.01, a PEG 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 1-year low of $142.66 and a 1-year high of $208.70. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $160.65 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $176.97.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG - Get Free Report) last announced 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 firm had revenue of $90.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $89.30 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.89 earnings per share. Alphabet's quarterly revenue was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. This is an increase from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio is currently 9.36%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on GOOG shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Alphabet from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $220.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Tigress Financial restated a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. KeyCorp decreased their price target on Alphabet from $202.00 to $185.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities raised shares of Alphabet from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $203.94.

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.