Paulson & CO. Inc. Makes New Investment in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Paulson & CO. Inc. bought a new position in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 10,000 shares of the information services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,904,000. Alphabet makes up about 0.1% of Paulson & CO. Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest holding.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in GOOGL. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Alphabet during the fourth quarter valued at $24,383,677,000. FMR LLC increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 22,100,902 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake 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 buying an additional 10,135,430 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position in 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 worth $13,635,878,000 after purchasing an additional 10,037,685 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Alphabet by 15.9% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 66,050,135 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $12,503,291,000 after acquiring an additional 9,042,271 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.03% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on GOOGL. Citizens Jmp cut shares of Alphabet from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $178.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a report on Friday, April 25th. Roth Mkm restated a "buy" rating and issued a $220.00 price objective on shares of Alphabet in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their price objective on shares of Alphabet from $200.00 to $159.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of Alphabet from $225.00 to $192.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have given a buy rating and five have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $199.46.

Alphabet Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GOOGL traded up $2.73 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $164.03. The company had a trading volume of 25,689,744 shares, compared to its average volume of 28,219,284. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $160.42 and its 200-day moving average price is $175.35. The company has a market capitalization of $2.00 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $140.53 and a 1 year 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 32.49% and a net margin of 28.60%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.89 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Alphabet Inc. will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. This is a boost from Alphabet's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Alphabet's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.36%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Sundar Pichai sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.56, for a total value of $5,153,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,717,696 shares of the company's stock, valued at $430,917,877.76. This represents a 1.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O'toole sold 1,340 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.08, for a total value of $270,787.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 17,848 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,606,723.84. This represents a 6.98 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 148,164 shares of company stock valued at $25,357,390. 11.55% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Alphabet Company 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.